Breath for me
by duffshel
Summary: A serial killer comes to town on the boy’s night to work. Things don’t go calmly for Nick or Warrick when the killer decides to not play nice. Now Complete!
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: **A serial killer comes to town on the boy's night to work. Things don't go calmly for Nick or Warrick when the killer decided to not play nice.

**Disclaimer: **This is all written in fun and trial for something new. Everything CSI is not mine and never will be. It belongs to the creative talent of the actors, the writers, the directors, and producers. I am not making any money off of this. Only meant to offer something new on something already so great. No reason to sue.

**Author's Notes:** I have been watching a lot of CSI reruns and suddenly have some time on my hands. I wanted to try to write something modern with some angst and drama to it. I hope I can get accomplish my goals with this peace and entertain some people along the way as well. Any help anyone can offer will be most appreciated. I promise to offer some laughs, so suspense, and hopefully, a couple of good cliffhangers for ya. I will not set a schedule for posting this because I probably will not be able to keep it. A couple of chapters are done and I know where this is going so it should come along nicely. Hope you enjoy!

_**Breath for me**_

Written by: duffshel

**#1**

The body was hard to move. Ken Ewing shook his head in disgust. He knew he should have killed her outside the damn hotel room. The death freeze had taken hold of her limbs and made it nearly impossible to make her fit out the door. She just had to curl up on herself in self defense. He never understood the point of that one. Defense or not, she was destined to die.

Ken cracked his neck with a quick jerk to the right and rolled his shoulders. It was going to take a little more work this time. After so many murders, he really should be used to things by now. But this one was not planned. This one just came up. He always liked free opportunities.

The girl was no one he had ever come across before. He had never been to New York and doubted she had ever visited the great state of Texas. Nope, he had never come across this Heather before tonight. Stupid little college girl.

The bed sheet was nothing special. It was a standard one used by the cheapest hotels in America. Ken had a feeling the it couldn't have cost this place more then twenty bucks a pack. This place was the Beverly Hills of vermin. And it was the cheapest dive he could find in Las Vegas. He didn't have the money to main and kill on the strip after all.

Heather was better looking post-mortem. The blue really brought out her pouty little lips. But she had no worries, Ken only raped the breathing. Death always made humans look surreal and beautiful, but not enough to make his shove his cock up into them. He preferred warmth to clammy and cold.

Sighing, Ken got up from the bed after his little break. He had once again waited too long. This is exactly what happened in San Diego. That bitch had been stiffer than a board and he had to break her almost in half to get her into his rental. Heather wasn't quite as bad, but would be soon enough.

The leather gloves clung to his skin nicely. They had to been constructed for this kind of work. They never got dirty and never left anything behind. Ken had to laugh to himself on that one. The cops were probably pulling their hair out over that fact. Ten states with no warrants or leads on the twenty three random murders was impressive.

Reaching down slowly, Ken gathered up some of the dark black hair that spilled out over the pale brown carpet. Her body shifted and jerked as he pulled the hair in the direction of the door. His latest rental was waiting right out in front of the door. The chick was not heavy by any means, but it still got Ken breathing hard. The body jumped nicely over the doorstop though. Ken had to smile at that good luck.

The Ford Five-hundred stood like a valiant stallion in the street light. It was a nice blue color. He would have to remember it. One day he would own his own car in that color. The trunk popped open with the press of a button. Nice and simple. Ken liked it like that.

Heather fell into the large holding area with a dull thud. Her damn legs didn't seem to bend like he was hoping. Sure enough, Ken had to crack her knees to get them in. The sheet he had thrown over his shoulder flapped slightly in the wind. He grabbed it and threw it over the body and tucked in like it was a bed. Ken had never liked putting it under the body in the trunk. It was something he really couldn't explain. A quirk one could call it.

Ken couldn't help, but to stand back for a moment and take in this new achievement. He was a man of pride and dedication. His father had always taught him to do things right. Of course, right wasn't always an option on a quick job. Ken had gone to college. He had known that girls were taught to walk in groups home at night from the library. There was always that little risk of the big, bad serial killer coming out of the night and swooping them into their arms of death. Heather obviously skipped that lesson.

With a careless pull, the trunk closed of the still, cooling body. Ken walked briskly back into the hotel room. He needed to check some things over before he would figure out where to get rid of his little trollop. The carpet where her last breath happened showed nothing, no blood. That was not his style. Blood was a pain in the ass to get out from under the nails. Strangling was always so much more fun, much more intimate. They say that only friends and family strangle each other in some parts of the country. Ken found that to be complete and utter crap.

His belt still laid on the bed where he had placed it. The leather still looked as good as the day he had purchased it from the little shop right over the border in Mexico. Ken stroked it with love. The ten pesos it cost him was well paid off. Many a women had gripped for the cow hide in desperation at the end. It always slid right back in the loops of his jeans as if nothing had ever happened.

There was nothing in the room, but the stuff the hotel rammed into it. His bags never left the rental. Nothing was left on purpose for the idiot cops to find, but Ken would be damned before he would get on his hands and knees and pick up hairs from the carpet. He had no record. His fingerprints had never been taken. The only thing in existence was a driver's license under a different name, his real name, his innocent name. Ken had never bothered to get it renewed or changed. He never speed or broke the law with a car anyways. He had some morals after all. Plus, he was cheap and it made no sense to him to pay for something such as that every few years.

With a satisfied smile, Ken turned on his heels back towards the door. He threw the key to the room and the floor in front of the window. The door closed with a thump. Keys jingled as he opened the driver's door of the Ford. The engine started with a nice purr. It was going to be a good day. He got a free kill and would be heading to the scheduled one soon enough.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

The sun beat down on the black Tahoe with little mercy even in this late of an hour. Even the Texas sun was kind before sundown, but not here. Nick Stokes rubbed his right hand roughly across his scalp. There wasn't enough hair to really say he was brushing his fingers through it. The pavement disappeared under the front of the hood as he drove steadily towards the lab. His shift was about to start in twenty minutes.

The traffic was light and the drive was relaxing. It had been a rough couple days on the job. A case had taken too long to figure out and get ready for court. The evidence was stubborn and the suspect was a convincing liar. But the kid's killer would soon be behind bars. Nick was always glad when the kids got their justice.

The parking lot was not filled any longer. Day shift didn't seem to believe in overtime it seemed. He never understood that one himself. Maybe it was all the hours awake when it was black. It must make a person want to work overhaul.

His parking spot was waiting for him. Warrick's and Greg's trucks were already there. Nick shrugged his shoulders. Those two could be as early as the wanted to be. It didn't matter to him. It was just the guys on tonight anyways. Catherine and Sara had a rare shift off together and would be taking Lindsey shopping the following day for clothes.

Nick checked his clock on his radio. He was early enough. The sun was moving slowly down behind the lab building. The night would soon rule the City of Lights. He took his time in walking towards the entrance doors. There was some deep feeling that he couldn't shake that this was going to be a rough night.

The receptionist was as cheerful as always. She was on the phone with someone and chirping away at them. Nick smiled at her with his Texan charm. He never passed up a chance to smile at a woman, no matter who she was. His mama had taught him better than to disrespect a woman. All he got as a small nod back.

There was little commotion tonight. Not many people were moving around past all the walls of glass in the large space. He could make out a few people here and there, but no one looked to be in any hurry. His feet carried him in the direction of laughter at the end of the hall on the left. Greg was up to something already.

Warrick Brown and Greg Sanders were sitting at the large table in the conference room. They were both hunched over something that Nick couldn't see. He leaned himself up against the doorway to watch the scene play out in front of him. Those two were always good for a laugh.

"See Warrick, there is something about abs that women just go insane over. According to this article, the more defined the abs, the more a woman wants to sleep with the guy."

"As I have already asked, why are you and I having this discussion? Shouldn't you be talking with the Southern ladies man? He would know more about this than I would."

Greg laughed again. "Are you telling me that you are not what the ladies are looking for?" There was a slight pause. "Though I can see why they would pass you up for Nick anyways. Damn guy could charm anyone."

Nick smiled to himself. He moved quietly into the room more. He wanted to see what in the hell those two were going on about.

Warrick looked as if he were just slapped on the face. "Like I have ever lost a girl to that man. Please, they take one look at us and they make the smart choice to go with dark, tall, and handsome."

Greg reached down and turned the page on the magazine they were looking at. The two men leaned down to look closely at the pages once again. Nick was about to say something, but all that came out of his mouth was a gasp as a hand rested on his shoulder. He turned quickly to come face to face with Grissom.

"I see you all are here. Good. We have some work to do."

Just like Gil Grissom to get right down to business before even a hello. Nick rolled his eyes as he turned back towards his friends. They had a slightly embarrassed look on each of their faces. It was priceless and would have been worth some words in fun if their boss had just not walked into the room.

"I just got this report in. We have D.B. in Huntridge Circle Park. Nick, Warrick I want you two to go meet Brass there. It sounds like she was left in the water park. Brass will be waiting for you guys. Greg you are with me. We have two D.B.'s found by a neighbor in a house down on Bonanza. Bring some extra supplies along."

Grissom looked over his guys. The three looked ready for the long night that was coming. Greg looked a little nervous about having to work alone with the boss. Nick and Warrick were grinning. With a shake of his head, Gil turned and left the room trusting they to get moving right away.

"Sorry man, but it looks like you get stuck with Grissom tonight." Warrick slapped Greg on the back slightly as he walked past the younger man.

Greg just smiled, "Well, at least I will have someone to work with who can get a case done in one night. Good luck boys."

"Whatever, boss. Just don't make it so 'Rick and I have to come out and clean up your mess."

Nick smiled even broader as Greg flipped him off. That former lab tech was a riot and Nick was proud to call him a friend. Never a dull moment with him around and he made mouth-watering coffee.

"Hey Nicky, get the lead out!"

Warrick's voice carried through the door. The magazine the two men were looking at was still on the table. Nick didn't bother with it. He wanted to get to work on this case. That body had to get removed from that park as soon as possible. He didn't want to think what would happen if some kids went to play and found a corpse in the way.

It wasn't hard to catch up with Warrick before he went into the locker room. Both men walked straight to their lockers and got ready. Nick peeled off the shirt he had worn to the lab and changed it with a black t-shirt. His ever so famous hat fit nicely on his head. Warrick always made fun of him for wanting to wear the black hat with the words FORENSICS plastered across the front in bold white letters. There was never any real reason for it, but Nick preferred to wear the hat with his vest to most sites.

Warrick didn't take that long to get ready at all. He had worn what he wanted to wear for the rest of night from home. He wasn't like Nick in that respect. The man had style and was willing to wreck a few expensive shirts to look good on the job. Nick was pulling on his vest over the ever present black t-shirt. Warrick simply shook his head.

"So are we ready? The drive shouldn't be too bad."

"Nah, it will be a breeze to get there. I am sure Brass has things under control anyways. He will just claim we are in the way." Nick smirked as he checked over his gun. It was fully loaded and ready to go.

The two men walked out of the locker room and headed to the front entrance way. Both o them had their keys in their hands. Nick kept checking Warrick out in the corner of his eye. He had that gleam in his eyes, the same one they always had when they were getting ready to leave on a case together. The gleam of who was going to win the drive. It was a macho thing sure enough. Driver meant leader for some reason that Nick himself had yet to work out.

Warrick's truck was the closest to the door. He had claimed that parking spot almost immediately and no one was willing to take it from him. They had only seen the black man lose his temper a few times, but it was enough to make everyone not want to see it again. Only Nick seemed dumb enough to provoke him whenever possible. But of course, Warrick would never blow up on his "bro" for no real reason. Hell, he liked to push the Texan's buttons just as much.

The taller CSI lengthened out his strides and was to the driver's door of his truck in no time. Nick didn't bother to walk any faster. He rarely won this race. There was no tension or anger in the action. Truth be told, Nick didn't like to drive to cases. It was a good time to de-stress before seeing death.

"It looks like you get to ride shot gun again little amigo!" Warrick was grinning from ear to ear. He knew that Nick hated that name."

"Little!"

"Well you are kinda short, man. There is nothing I can do for ya on that, but I can assure you that I can reach the pedals."

"Just get in before I turn your head into a football!"

The two were smiling as they threw their gear into the back seat. Nick climbed into the truck first and took a good look at the floor. It appeared that Warrick was turning it into a diner once again. It was not healthy, attracts bugs. Nick shook his head.

"Have you ever heard of a trash can? I swear, this thing is a breeding ground for that crap Grissom is obsessed with."

Warrick pulled himself in with the steering wheel and took a good look around himself. It looked just fine to him. "There is nothing wrong in here Nicky. You are just being paranoid or something."

Nick carefully placed his feet on the floor mat trying to avoid the wrappers. He didn't want to know what is in any of them and was sure that it would take forever to get it off his boots. Warrick had started the engine and they were off with a jump. The wrappers shifted a little. Nick watched them closely.

The two men were quiet, but not in an uncomfortable way. Out of the entire team, it could easily be said that these two were the closest. They had been through a lot together and had pulled the other up more than either of them could count. Nick had been there for Warrick when an "interest" had died and he tried to drown his sorrows at the tables. Warrick had been there for Nick after he had a gun shoved in his face by a woman that should have been on the good side. And there was also that whole Nigel Crane thing.

It was odd to see them together. There were many differences between the two and it was not something anyone could easily miss. They looked like polar opposites right down to their clothes of choice. Many would say their personalities should have caused a lot of clashed, but if anything, the differences brought them together even more. If one was lacking in one area, the other made up for it just fine. Both men knew there would be very little to get in the way of their friendship and work rivalries was not one of them.

Warrick kept turning to glance at Nick. The shorter man was still watching the floor with full attention. A smirk fell upon his lips. He gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. The mirrors proved to be clear. With a quick twist of his arms, the truck lurched hard into the left lane. Nick was unprepared for the move and was promptly thrown into his window.

"What the fuck?"

Laughter filled the interior, "Damn that was good!"

Nick rubbed the side of his head. He had hit the glass, but not hard enough to do anything. It just was to anger him. As he shifted in his seat to yell at his friend, his feet moved. Something was able to ooze down his jean leg to the top of his boot. Horrified eyes turned south.

"Oh man! You got that damn shit on me 'Rick! Are you trying to add your body to the case tonight or what!"

Warrick was trying to curb in his laugher, but it was hard when all he could make out was the disgust on Nick's face. It had worked properly. He really didn't want to know what got on Nick either. The last time he had cleaned the truck out was not a date he could remember at that moment.

"Don't worry, bro. You can hose off at that park. You will be as good as new in no time."

"And you will be as good as dead. You had better drive slow man. The faster you go, the faster you get to your death!"

Warrick smirked and returned to the right lane. Their turn was coming up. He held the speed limit.

TBC….Until Next Time….


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary: **A serial killer comes to town on the boy's night to work. Things don't go calmly for Nick or Warrick when the killer decided to not play nice.

**Disclaimer: **This is all written in fun and trial for something new. Everything CSI is not mine and never will be. It belongs to the creative talent of the actors, the writers, the directors, and producers. I am not making any money off of this. Only meant to offer something new on something already so great. No reason to sue.

**Author's Note:**Thanks to my two reviewers and to all those who just read. Stick with me and I promise things will come together with a nice bang. I am currently working on my favorite chapter and I quite happy with it. Thanks and enjoy!

_**Breath for me**_

Written by: duffshel

**#2**

Fear filled the air. Ken almost thought he could taste it if he really tried hard enough. After finally getting rid of Heather, he had moved onto his real reason to be in Vegas. Her name was Becca. He really didn't know much else about her other than she mile long legs and soft blonde hair. She looked so pretty with the gag wrapped around her head and the tears pouring out of red-rimmed eyes.

Ken sat on the wooden chair that was placed to an equally wooden table. This hotel room was nicer than the one he had been in earlier. Becca had enough cash on her to go a little higher class. She took pride in her money and it bought her a nice place to die.

"You know, the more you cry, the more you make me want to kill you. It is something that never fails to make me want to commit murder."

The woman whimpered around her gag. Her thoughts were running over her husband and her parents. They wouldn't be able to save her. She was doomed and she knew it. This man was going to do something to her, then kill her.

Ken sat forward so that his elbows were resting on his knees. He clasped his hands together and looked towards the floor. Now that he had the woman he came for, he really didn't know what he felt like doing to her. This happened every time. He got them, then debated.

"You know Becca, my love. I really don't have this party planned out. We could really do anything before the date is over. I would ask you, but I know I will not like the answer."

There was going to be the set way of killing her and getting rid of her of course, but Ken really was debating whether he was in the mood to fuck her. He could see her long legs wrapped around his waist as he pounded away, but really didn't feel up to it. Rape was not a constant for him. If he was horny, then, well, it happened.

Becca was sniffling now. More tears escaped her eyes as she took in her kidnapper. He was not a bad looking man. Not like any bad men she had been told about growing up. This man almost had a movie star look to him. His face was handsome and his sandy blonde hair hung around his neck. It would not have been hard to see him on the runway or in a film. If he hadn't grabbed her and tied her up, Becca knew she would have started to flirt with him. Her mother always told her she had horrible taste in men.

"Hm. Well, I don't have anywhere to be anytime soon and the rental is paid through tomorrow. I suppose we could just hang out here for a little while and watch some T.V. Maybe in a few hours I will be ready for something else. We will have to see my love."

Ken stood from his chair now and walked to the bed. He lowered his weight next to Becca's. The sag caused her body to fall in his direction. Becca tried to fight against it, but ended up tipping herself right into him. Ken took the opportunity and put his arm around her shoulders. Without the ropes, they might have looked like lovers.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Jim Brass stood like he always did. His back was straight and his arms were at his sides. The cop also had what Nick and Warrick referred to as his "happy" face on. Mouth in a straight line, eyes dark, and brow sloped down in a frown. He, of course, didn't smile or wave at the two CSI's when they arrived.

"We have a young Caucasian woman, looks to be in her early twenties. There is no signs of blood on the ground around the body. It looks as if she was just thrown into the sight and left. Phillips is almost done and you guys can do your stuff."

Warrick nodded. He could see through the bodies of the cops milling around the area. It was still early enough in Vegas that there were a few people gathered around the yellow tape to see anything that they could. It was something he would never understand. There was no glamour about a dead body and he wouldn't go hunting for them if it wasn't for his job.

Nick shifted next to him and looked over the crowd of people for himself. There weren't too many, but enough to get on his nerves. He just hoped they watched where they were walking and didn't destroy anything of value. He turned towards Warrick when he felt a tug on his vest.

"Let's get to work."

The two men walked under the tape up onto the red rubber tiles that lined the water shooters. It was a section of the park dedicated to the kids. The shooters forced water high into the air in various patterns in order to tease and soak kids much to their parents delight. The body was laying almost in the middle of the circle.

David Phillips was still kneeling next to the young woman. He was just finishing with his preliminary examination of the body on the sight. Nick could see his camera was out, laying next to his knee. David was leaning over her, keeping his body as far back as possible. It wasn't up to him to touch the body quite yet. He was just looking a few things over before Nick and Warrick began looking her over for evidence.

"So, what do we have Dave?"

Warrick's voice didn't cause any reaction from the other man. He simply kept himself bent forward. "I really don't know. Without moving her and opening her up, I really cannot see what killed her at this moment. She is a young one."

Nick lowered his eyelids slightly as he took in the girl's face. He had moved to the other side of David and the girl. Her black hair fell across her face and neck, but from her physical shape, she wasn't a grandma. With a sigh, he put his case down and pulled out his digital camera.

David stood up and out of the way as Nick got in closer to get his pictures with his markers. He turned to Warrick who was looking of the surrounding area.

"How many people have been in this area? Any vehicles?"

Brass stepped forward to take those questions, "I have only let David in the circle. As far as I know, the only tire tracks are right over here and they are not from anyone of us. They were here when I arrived on the scene."

Following Brass away from David and Nick, Warrick could see the tracks he was talking about. They were not made from large tires, but they were nicely visible in the dirt. This time it was Warrick to begin snapping some photos. He would have to get a mold made.

Nick pulled himself back a little from the girl. He had gotten plenty of pictures of how the girl was situated at the scene. Setting down his camera, he turned towards his case and popped it open. He grabbed a pair of latex gloves and pulled them on. Also from the case he grabbed a flashlight and a tweezers. There was something in her left hand that looked kind of interesting.

Carefully he reached out and took a hold of her hand. Her body was hard. She had been dead for a while. With as much care as he could muster, Nick pried her hand open a little and removed the small piece of black fabric. His head cocked to the side slightly. With a shrug, he placed it into an evidence bag and moved on. He used his right hand to brush the hair from around her face and neck. His eyes widened.

"Hey Dave. Take a look at this."

David moved closer to Nick and looked over his shoulder. The girl's face and neck were now revealed and David's mind began ticking away.

"Well, I would put good money on the cause of death being strangulation."

Nick nodded his agreement. Her neck was nothing, but dark shades of purples, blues, and blacks. There was even evidence of a little burn marks in some areas as if whatever was used to strangle her moved. Nick pushed himself to his feet and turned to the coroner once again.

"I think it is time to get her out of here. We will check in with ya later."

David nodded and waved his crew over. Nick stepped back so the three men could get her into the body bag and onto the stretcher. It didn't take them that long at all do it, maybe five minutes. They were efficient and it helped that her knees seemed to be broken. Nick couldn't help the bile from jumping in his throat at the idea. The stretcher lifted to normal height and they were off towards the lab.

Nick turned back to the place the body had been in. There were no sign of blood anywhere which fit with their immediate guess at strangling. He reached for his camera and snapped a few new pictures of the area. That was something he was always getting crap for from the others, that he took too many pictures at a scene. It paid off more than it was pointless so Nick didn't see the point in changing the behavior.

Carefully he drew the light from the flashlight across all the red rubber that was in the area. There was nothing that stood out. No footprints, no tire tracks, no blood. The dying light was not helping any though. The sun was almost done with its set and the sky was nothing more than a pretty array of pinks and purples. The cops were turning on the headlights of the cars to add light to the area. They could be so thoughtful sometimes.

Warrick on the other hand was beginning to prepare to make his mold. He never left the lab without the molding kit ready for use. This was something he was really good at and never passed up an opportunity to show how good he was at it. As he mixed the paste, he turned to look back at Nick. The Texan was walking slowing around the area, sweeping his flashlight back and forth. Deep down, he knew his friend wouldn't find anything on that rubber. He didn't say anything though.

His paste thickened nicely and he was ready to begin. He took his time and spread it out with care. There was no going back if he made a mistake at this point. Brass was watching him from off to the right. This was not the first time someone watched him to do this, and was most certainly not the last. It didn't bother him though. It gave him a witness in case someone tried to through the mold out in court.

Once the paste was in place, Warrick stood and looked further up the tire trail. They drove straight from the parking lot on the north side. The driver jumped the curve and didn't waver in his destination. Warrick rushed to get a few pictures of the trail in the dying light. He checked them on the LCD screen on the camera. They were not the best, but they showed the trail

Brass had moved off to talk with a few of the younger officers that were standing close to the yellow tape. He chose a handful of them and was giving them their instructions to watch over the activity in the park during the night and following day. It was rare a killer would come back, but Brass never took chances.

Nick shook his head to himself as he walked towards his partner. There was nothing he got from the rubber. He had even pulled two cops he knew over to see if they saw something that he may have missed. They came up empty handed as well. There was nothing. The killer didn't shed anything.

Warrick was standing over his mold still waiting for it to harden. He turned towards the distressed Nick. He smiled slightly to himself. It was just like Nick to get mad when the killer wasn't kind enough to leave any clues. They would have to hope the tire tread and the body would give them enough to get something started. Crouching down, he pushed at the paste. It didn't move. It was done. He gently peeled it away from the dirt and looked at his work. The tread was clear.

"Well, we have the tire tracks and the body. It is something at least."

Nick merely grunted in response. The molding thing was more of Warrick's expertise. He guessed he would be the one to have to deal with the black cloth he found in her hand and anything else Doc and David found on her.

The two CSI's packed up their stuff and headed back towards the black Denali. Both were running through different scenarios in the minds. It was common for the two to take totally different views of what happened, but somehow they always brought everything together and made it all fit. The both felt that was one of the main reasons Grissom let them keep working as partners as much as he did.

Neither talked during the ride back to the lab. Their night was only an hour done. There was a lot to do. The girl needed to tell them what happened to her. They both just hoped she would be willing to tell them everything she could.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary: **A serial killer comes to town on the boy's night to work. Things don't go calmly for Nick or Warrick when the killer decides to not play nice.

**Disclaimer: **This is all written in fun and trial for something new. Everything CSI is not mine and never will be. It belongs to the creative talent of the actors, the writers, the directors, and producers. I am not making any money off of this. Only meant to offer something new on something already so great. No reason to sue.

**Author's Note: **Thanks again to all those who review and the honor I received for favorite author's list. Means a lot to mean and keeps me working hard on this piece. This chapter is one of the longer ones. I hope you all enjoy it. I promise, there is a bang coming, just give me a couple more chapters. Then, we will see if you still like me then. :) Have fun and drive carefully!

_**Breath for me**_

Written by: duffshel

**#3**

Nick walked into Dr. Albert Robbins' office with slight apprehension. This case was not going to be an easy one. The crime scene had given them too little and there was too much weight on the girl's body to prove the case. He had worked on other cases with little to go by, but this one of the few where the dead person was the one with all the tales.

Doc Robbins was standing to the left of the girl. His green apron was full of blood from his evaluation of the body. He was looking at her left hand with great interest. That was the hand he found the black cloth in. Nick coughed softly to get the good doctor's attention.

"Ah, Nick. It is good to see you. I am almost done with the preliminary work on your body. The cause of death is as you and David thought. She was strangled as you can most certainly tell by the bruising and slight burns around the entirety of her neck. But, she was a fighter."

Nick moved closer to the steel table as Robbins lifted the hand to show to him. There was caked blood under three of her nails, possible skin sample. Also, a black string hanging from the index nail.

"She must have clawed him at one point. Got blood so I will scrap to see if I can get any skin samples."

That was a big plus for the side of justice. Blood was the best thing to get, no matter the amount. Nick sudden felt a jolt of happiness. Things may work out for the best.

"I sent in samples to Sanders for detox to see if there was anything in her blood stream that may have helped her attacker get her to go easier. I am also still working on tests to determine rape or not. Should only take me another hour and I should be able to answer all your questions."

Nick looked up, "Well there in one question I have for you right now. Do we know who she is?"

Robbins couldn't help, but chuckle to himself. Using his cane, the older man moved over to his counter where his notes laid. There was also a bag of personal belongings to the victim.

"I totally forgot about that. Thanks for reminding me Nick. Her name is Heather Lewis. She is from New York City. Only 22 years old."

Robbins handed Nick the plastic bag and walked back towards the body. Nick looked at the small wallet that laid in the bottom. This was a young girl. Young people always seemed to suffer the most in situations like these. He just hoped the would be able to get something and get someone.

"Thanks. Warrick or I will be back in a few probably to get a final report. I will check with Greg about the results and then have him send you a copy as well."

"You take care Nick. This will be a tough one, but we will figure it out before too long."

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Warrick studied the tire database that the lab computer gave him. The mold was not bad, but there were a few areas that were missing from the track. It was making a little tougher to get an exact match. As it was, he had two possible matches. There were still a few more tires to match it to. Warrick straightened his back and cringed slightly at the large crack that was omitted.

With a deep sigh, he stood up and moved around a little bit. His eyes were beginning to geek out on him. That was one thing he could never do, stare at something for hours on end. Greg was better at that kind of thing with his microscopes and all. He jumped about a foot when he heard a thump behind him. Nick simply smirked.

"Nice moves there buddy. You could always dazzle on the dance floor," the Texan drawled.

"Just shut up, man!"

Nick walked towards the computer the taller CSI was working on. The selection of tires to match to was impressive. It made Nick glad he was a fiber specialist. He could work with his black fabric. The plastic evidence bag was in his right hand.

"How is it going? Do you have anything on the brand yet?"

"Well, I have it narrowed down between Firestone and Bridgestone. The two are quite similar in its types and I have found one of each that could be a possible match. And from the width of the tire, it is a larger sedan, not a truck."

Nick nodded at the information. He knew Warrick was better at that sort of thing and would leave him to it. The black cloth was calling his name.

"I am going to head across the hall and start some tests with Greg on this. Hopefully we can figure out what it is from exactly and where it was purchased from."

After receiving his basic wave of dismissal from Warrick, Nick left the room. The glass walls did nothing to hold out the pounding of Greg's occasional rock music. It seemed the Grissom sent him into the lab to work on their case, but he ended up getting stuck in there again. Greg was turning out to be a good CSI, but at this point in time, he still was a excellent DNA analysis and lab technician.

The smaller man was jumping around, but not to the extent that he used to. Nick could remember the time when Greg used to wear the latex gloves on his head and a mask cut out to look like a face. He kind of missed the old Greg. This new one was still fun, but not the same.

The music got louder when the door opened, of course, but Nick never would listen to his music that loud. Country music just didn't sound the same at ear drum shattering sounds. The stereo was close to the door, so it only two steps to get to it to turn down the blare. Greg jumped as the room suddenly filled with complete silence.

"What the fuck dude!"

Nick couldn't help, but to laugh. Greg's eyes were wide and both of his hands hand hit his chest to stop the shock. "I thought Grissom said you couldn't do that anymore now that you are a CSI Level 1?"

"Yeah, well. He isn't here right now is he. Grissom sent me back to the lab to get our stuff done and said I should help out you and Warrick if you guys needed it. It seems to me that you do."

"Doc sent you his tests for our girl and I have some cloth I need to work on. I can do that myself, but would appreciate the use of your lab. It is the best after all."

"Sucking up will do nothing for you," Greg said with a straight face as he moved some of his supplies over to make room for the other man.

The beakers were all shiny, the test tubes were lined up by the hundreds, and the pipettes were stacked in their separate boxes. Nick really didn't know what he was going to use yet. This was not going to be simple as most people would think.

The cloth felt like basic cotton, sort of like the stuff used to make his work t-shirts. His best guess was just a simple t-shirt that you could buy at any local shopping store. Despite having the feeling he would get very little from the cloth, Nick set up his equipment for the tests he wished to perform. He was going to have to cut up the black fabric, but make sure there was enough left to go in the file.

As Nick got the Bunsen burner ready for his burn test on one of the small squares he was going to use, Greg turned the music back up slightly. He just couldn't work in a completely quiet lab. It always made the day seem as if it would never end if there was no background noise. Greg knew Nick wouldn't mind as long as it wasn't too loud and not too out there. The country boy was open to different types of music, just not to losing his hearing.

Greg slipped in a glance at his colleague. Nick had pulled on the classic latex gloves and was holding a small square of black cloth with a tweezers over the burner. The small collection plate was being held by his other hand underneath to collect the ash. There was no way Greg was going to do any of those tests. They were too boring for Greg's taste. He preferred to test the girl's blood for impurities to see what she was on.

"So Nick, where is the other half of the dynamic duo?"

Nick smirked, "He is looking at tires."

"You two evaluate the weirdest stuff."

"You will have to do it soon yourself, my friend. You are still new enough that Grissom is giving you easy things to do. Soon you will be where we are and looking at tires and fabric. It is the one joy of the job I would say I would miss the most."

Greg couldn't help chuckling at the dramatic tone of Nick's voice. He knew his friend liked his job, but there were parts of it that were less desirable. It was where Greg wanted to be. He had done the lab work thing and needed a change. Over the years, he watched everyone else go out into the world and do science while he stayed in walls of glass with beakers. He longed to get out and try something on a new level.

"I can't wait to get there Nick."

"It will come, boss. Just give it some time and you will be solving cases left and right."

Nick had finished with a couple of quick tests on the cloth. So far, he had been right. It was basic cotton, nothing out of the ordinary. He would have to search his own database later to see if he could figure out which companies used that certain weave in their products. But Nick was not going to hold his breath. The body was still the thing they had rely on.

Without bothering Greg from his tests, Nick walked out of the lab. He could see Warrick still searching over the tire files. A sigh echoed through the empty hallway and Nick checked his watch. There were only a few more hours to this shift. This case was not going to be solved this night. Nick considered whether or not he should start his searches or go talk with Robbins. He really should wait for Warrick on that one. Coffee sounded good.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Becca could feel her tears streaming down her face, but she really wasn't aware of herself crying. The man who had grabbed her was sleeping on the bed next to her. His head was hanging down towards the right and there was a small stream of drool dropping onto his shirt collar. She had tried to get her hands free, but had no luck.

Another whimpered escaped. She couldn't remember ever crying this much in her life. All she wanted to do was have a night out on the town with her girlfriends. This guy came out of no where. She wasn't prepared for him at all. It had been an easy grab. Her husband would have a field day with that. Whatever he had used on her was potent. It had lasted a long time and really fucked with her head.

The man who called himself Ken shifted and moaned. Becca risked a look at his face. He was going to wake up soon. Her eyes drifted downward with the intention of focusing on her feet in front of her, but stopped immediately on the man's crotch. She started to shake slightly. The tears came faster. Ken looked to be having the problem every teenage boy had when they woke up after a good dream. A cold shower probably was not going to be on the menu either.

Ken shifted again and his eyes slowly opened. At first he was disorientated at the scene that came into view, but everything came into clear focus at the sniffing sounds next to him. Ah yes, Becca. Arching his spine, Ken considered how tight his pants had gotten since he was last awake. He hadn't though to raping the girl then, but now it seemed like the best idea he had ever had.

Becca gasped as well as she could around the gag as Ken turned his gaze on her face. His eyes were dark with lust and a desire for pain. Her trembling got even worst. He reached out his left hand and brushed it against her wet cheek. It was moist when he examined it. His eyes got darker.

The girl had been crying for awhile and looked completely ready to satisfy him. He pushed himself up to his knees with a groan. His hands went straight to his belt bucket. Ken always preferred to be naked first. It got him even more into the mood for the activities that would follow. Plus, his belt would be at the ready if he tired of the girl and got straight to the killing.

"Now you will see the best thing you have ever seen, my pet. Try not to get too excited at the sight. We are going to have a long couple of hours."

His pants and boxers came off easily. His erection stood out proudly, ready for action. Ken slowly removed his black t-shirt and exposed himself completely to Becca. The girl's eyes couldn't help, but to take him in and examine everything she saw. He fell in love with her when her eyes got almost impossibly wide at the size of his cock.

"Like what you see? You can if you want to. I won't tell what a dirty little girl you are."

Becca tried to pull away from the man as he reached for her again. This time his hands went right for her pants. Her body was pulled into a flat position and he literally ripped them off. Ken wasted no time in tearing the tiny panties away from what he wanted. His mouth began to water.

"Are you ready for me? You better be. I don't play nice."

Becca tried to scream around the gag as he lowered himself on top of her. Pain filled her senses. She wanted to die.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Grissom came upon Nick as the younger man was resting his eyes on the sofa in the break room. His case with Greg was not to difficult to figure out and they had a confession from the couple's maid in no time. Seems they refused to give the woman a raise so she poisoned them with rat poison in their pasta. There had been no regret in the tiny woman's eyes.

Nick looked exhausted to the head CSI. They had a lot of hard cases the past couple of weeks, but Nick always seemed to be awake and alert. Now, he looked tired with gray circles forming under his eyes. Gil shook his head. The kid needed to take a vacation. He was sure his family back in Texas would be happy to see him come around.

"How is the case going Nick?'

The younger man almost jumped right off the couch. He had not heard anyone enter the room and the sound of a voice scarred the living shit out of him. Nick looked straight at his boss with wide eyes. If Nick would have had a mirror, he would have realized he looked just like Greg did about an hour earlier.

"Gris, I didn't hear you come in. You need to give a guy a little warning before you give him a jump start."

Nick's accent was thick in his shock. It took Gil a second to figure out exactly what had been said. He smiled. Nick always did have a way with words.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were napping."

"Nah, I was just resting my eyes. Too much coffee in the blood to get to sleep that fast. I was just thinking about how unlucky were are probably going to be on this case."

"What do you mean?" Gil's eyebrow crinkled down into a frown. He had looked over the case himself just a few minutes ago. The body had given a few clues, but it appeared that Nick had not talked to Doc again yet.

"Well, Greg and I have finished on our case and there in nothing new right now. I was going to offer our assistance to you and Warrick on this one."

On the outside, Nick smiled. Inside, he cringed. He had been hoping that him and Warrick would be able to do this one on their own and show Grissom that they could handle something like this. Nick didn't have the energy to talk his boss out of his offer for help. Deep down, he knew they would need some higher help to get this one solved.

"That would be great. Things are pretty thin for us right now. Warrick only has a tire tread and I have some basic cotton cloth. Nothing out of the ordinary yet."

"I see. I have been to see Doc Robbins and talked with him about his final tests on the body. She was clean of drugs except for traces of ether in her nasal passages and esophagus. It appears that she was drugged that way and hauled off. There is something odd about everything as well."

Nick's ears perked up at that, "What do you mean?"

"Well, after I took a look at her and looked over the results of the initial work, I couldn't help, but think I had seen something like this before. I quickly looked up some recent cases from other jurisdictions and found similar murders. All women whom where strangled and dropped off somewhere to be found. I am thinking we may have a serial on our hands."

"Hm, I think I remember hearing about a murder case in California with a girl that was raped and murdered, but there was nothing to go on. The dude was clever and left nothing, but…tire treads…"

Nick looked up Grissom. Both men were thinking the same thing. They had some phone calls to make.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Sweaty and feeling completely alive, Ken fell to his side of the hotel bed. Becca laid prone in shock and disgust. Ken couldn't keep the goofy grin off his face as he stared at the ceiling. She hadn't been too bad, even got her off once. That was satisfaction at the fullest. But he wasn't done. It was time for the big finally.

"That was not too bad. I am sure you made a few men happy in your young days. Too bad that it will never happen again."

Ken reached over the edge of the bed to the floor. His belt laid waiting for its turn to play. It felt warm and welcoming in his hand. Again, he fell in love with Becca as her eyes showed complete fear and defeat at the sight of it in his hands. He leaned over and kissed her lips over the gag. His tongue traced the lower on before pushing past the cloth to her teeth. She moaned in fear.

"I promise you will like it."

With that, Ken sat up straight and turned to straddle her hips once again, this time minus the sexual lust. Lust of murder was in his eyes now. The belt moved quicker than Becca's brain could follow. It was looped around her throat and was pulled taunt in less than the blink of an eye. No more oxygen was available.

Ken pinned her body down with his legs and weight. She had almost super strength in this battle for her life, but he was used to it. Everyone got it in those last moments. She would soon calm down and allow it to happen. Again, Ken leaned down and kissed her slack lips. They were getting that erotic blue shade. Her struggles were getting less. He pulled tighter. It would all be over soon. The question of the hour, where to put the body?

TBC…


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary: **A serial killer comes to town on the boy's night to work. Things don't go calmly for Nick or Warrick when the killer decided to not play nice.

**Disclaimer: **This is all written in fun and trial for something new. Everything CSI is not mine and never will be. It belongs to the creative talent of the actors, the writers, the directors, and producers. I am not making any money off of this. Only meant to offer something new on something already so great. No reason to sue.

**Author's Note:**Well, this is one of the shorter chapters in this tale. Not too much action, but some guy bonding between the two boys. Hope you all are enjoying this as much as I am in writing it. Don't have a whole lot of time today to say too much more. Thanks to all and to all a good day!

_**Breath for me**_

Written by: duffshel

**#4**

Warrick walked slowly down the hallway. His feet were dragging on the tiles. The shift was finally over, but they hadn't gotten any farther than a couple of hours ago. Nick and Gil had made some phone calls to other labs around the country. There would be several faxes waiting for them when they arrived back to work.

Grissom wasn't going to let any of them work overtime. He was worried they were going to be on this case for a couple of days and didn't want to fry anyone out. Everyone was to go home and get to bed. The girls would be back on the next shift and they would be available to work on anything new. Greg and Gil would be on the dead girl's case was well now.

The door into the locker room seemed really heavy. It took more energy than it should have to get open. There was no one else in the room. Nick had not shown up yet.

"Where the hell are you man!"

The walls and lockers didn't respond. It was quiet. Sighing, Warrick walked to his locker and put in his combination. All his lucky numbers on the tables. As his locker swung open, so did the entry door. Nick shuffled in. Warrick was sure he looked just like his partner.

"You are late. We have been off the clock for…two minutes."

"Yeah, yeah. I don't know about you Warrick, but I could use so breakfast. Grease with a side of pancakes is something my stomach is growling for."

Warrick smiled at the Texan. He didn't get it, but people in the south loved to eat all the grease they could in the morning. Nick had told him it was to get everything oiled up for the day. It still made Warrick queasy. Plain pancakes were just fine for him.

"Sure. That sounds good. Then we should probably head home. Knowing Grissom in these moods, he will probably call to tuck us in."

"As long as I get my good-night story, he can call me all he wants."

The two laughing men finally finished changing into normal street clothes and slammed their locker doors at the same time. Keys in hands, they walked out of the building with a brisk speed. Neither were in the mood to talk with anyone tonight about anything. They simply wanted to get some food and hang out for a little bit.

It had been tough for the two to do much together outside of work. Warrick had found a new girl and was spending a lot of time with her. Nick had been going to the gym for about three hours a day to work out his aggression of work. Their new outlooks on things at that time in their lives left little spare time for male bonding. It was going to be nice to do something they used to do all the time in the older days.

"So where do we want to go?"

"I don't care. I picked the last time Nicky. It is your turn."

"Well, since I am in the mood for grease, I want meat. There is a little mom and pop place over by my place that makes one hell of a breakfast for cheap. We could go there."

"That sounds fine. As long as they don't inject grease into their pancakes."

Laughing, Nick walked to his truck, "How do you think they make those damn things taste good! Otherwise it would be nothing but batter."

Before Warrick could respond, Nick was in the truck with the door closed. He did get the glare though as the other man pulled himself into his. Since they were heading towards his neighborhood, he was going to lead their two truck caravan. He pulled out of his spot and waiting until Warrick pulled in behind him. They left the parking lot and headed out.

The streets were busier this morning, but it was also a weekday. People did have to go to work for the day. He was able to keep Warrick in his sights. There was little worry about losing his partner though. Warrick knew how to get to his house and was able to get around the neighborhood if he needed to. After he left the hospital after his stalking incident, Warrick learned where a lot of things were since Nick needed a lot of help getting stuff. Nick was sure Warrick had see this restaurant at one point as well.

It didn't take too long to get there. Since they had arrived after the morning rush, there was plenty of parking. Both men parked and hopped out. The hostess was eager to get them into their booth upon their entrance. It was a cozy little place, not too large. The booth benches were covered in brown vinyl and the table tops were green. It would have been a bad combination in a different atmosphere.

Warrick didn't even bother to pick up his menu. He knew what he wanted, doubled. Nick looked over his with a calculating eye. There were many good things to have, but he really didn't know which he wanted today. The waitress headed over and asked if they wanted anything to drink.

"I'll take a coffee, black," Warrick offered with a smile.

Nick glanced quick at the beverage selection, "I'll take a large orange juice and a small whole milk."

The young woman wrote her notes and walked away. Warrick turned his attention back to Nick. The man had really odd meal tastes. He could almost see the wheels turning while calculating the fat content of everything. It made sense that the Texan had to work out as much as he did if he ate like this all the time.

"Have a selection there yet, man? I think everything you are looking at will clog something up."

"Nah, just need to oil up the old system so I am ready to pound it out later."

Same response to the same question. It was like an act from a play. One Warrick was willing to play out over and over again for as long as possible. It was comfortable being here in this diner with his best friend. The two had been there for each other and done a lot for the other a lot over the years. The taller CSI considered the other his "adopted" brother. He didn't know what he would do if something happened to Nicky.

The waitress came back in time with their drinks. They ordered right away so they would get their hunger filled sooner. Warrick went all boring and got his double stack of pancakes. Nick went all out with three eggs scrambles, biscuits and gravy, pancakes, and a plate of bacon.

"If you had to go swimming after this man, you would sink to the bottom of the pool with all that in your system."

"You know 'Rick, you are awfully concerned with my eating habits. May I inquire as to why that would be?"

Warrick looked up sharply towards the other man. It was then he saw the fight to hold in the laughter. "Whatever, man. Eat yourself into a coma for all I care."

Nick couldn't help himself. He had to laugh or he was afraid he might break something. Warrick didn't take too long in joining in. They were simply having fun, even at the other's expense. It was a good day to be alive.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

It was mid-afternoon when Nick rolled himself out of bed. He couldn't stifle the yawn that threatened to open his face wide open. The gym had been busy and forced him to be there longer than he wanted to. But he got in his workout. It was always hell to get out of bed. Not a favorite activity of the Texan.

Nick looked around him room for something to wear. He hadn't had time to do any laundry so there was nothing, but the dirty clothes lying around his room. After Crane, Nick had cut back the amount of clothes he owned and nothing he had needed to go to a dry cleaner anymore. Hell, he even bought a washer and dryer. He was getting domestic.

His shower was hot and it steamed up the bathroom to sauna temperatures. It felt good on his tired muscles. He was just drying off when he heard his phone start to ring. Wrapping the towel around his still dripping body, he headed into his bedroom again. His phone was on the night stand. The ID announced that it was Grissom calling. Nick flipped the phone open.

"Hey boss."

"Nick, there is another body found. Another young girl with same marks around the neck as our other one. Brass called me about two hours ago and I have been at the scene since. Get to the lab as soon as you can. We have some work to do. If this is the same guy, we have no time to lose before he moves onto his next victim."

The words poured into Nick's brain, but it really wasn't computing. It was too much at once, especially when Grissom talked a mile a minute. The man needed to learn the art of slow speaking for those who were momentarily dumbed by their alarm clocks.

"Alright. I just got out of the shower so give me about twenty minutes to get there."

"Sounds good. I already called Warrick and he is on his way as we speak. See you soon. Bye."

Nick didn't even have a chance to say bye. Gil had already hung up. Throwing the phone onto the bed, he walked back into the bathroom to continue getting ready. He needed to brush his teeth. Something was seriously growing on them at the moment and Nick didn't have the money to support a colony.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

It had been a long day. Becca had fought until her last breath and of course couldn't put her body into a decent position for fitting into his trunk. Ken was thinking next time he should try out a minivan to see if that would help any. But that was not something he was too worried about right now. He didn't have another girl in mind yet anyways. Never before had he taken any time to have fun on his sprees, so he was determined this time to have some fun. He was in Las Vegas after all.

Ken used the rest of Becca's money to get a room in a really nice hotel on the Strip. He had never been here before and was eager to see what the fuss was all about. There was plenty of his own money to use to gamble with. It should be a lot of fun.

It was getting late when he finally decided to leave his room. There would be more people and maybe another free chance at another girl. He wouldn't complain if some little hussy walked right into his arms the way his Heather had.

He carefully hid everything that would look bad for the housemaid to find in case they came by. Ken really didn't know how these fancier hotels worked with their room service and wasn't about to take any chances. Glancing once more in the mirror, Ken walked out of his room with a grin.

TBC….Drink anyone?


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary: **A serial killer comes to town on the boy's night to work. Things don't go calmly for Nick or Warrick when the killer decided to not play nice.

**Disclaimer: **This is all written in fun and trial for something new. Everything CSI is not mine and never will be. It belongs to the creative talent of the actors, the writers, the directors, and producers. I am not making any money off of this. Only meant to offer something new on something already so great. No reason to sue.

**Author's Note: **Wow it is late! I wanted to get this one up now since I will be busy, busy, busy here the next few days. And I wanted to add to that slower Chpt. 4 as soon as possible. Thanks again to everyone who reviewed and those who are just reading. In this chapter, our cast expands and our bad guy goes and gets himself into a new situation that may or may not (not telling!) lead into trouble! I will try to get a new chapter out sometime this weekend, but Mon. at the latest. But let us set up our dominos and enjoy the popcorn! Until next time...

_**Breath for me**_

Written by: duffshel

**#5**

Warrick sat at the table, sipping his coffee. He didn't sleep very well and now there a new body to add to this unusual case. Grissom and David had done all the work in the field. They were just waiting for Nick to arrive so Gil could fill them in on what was going on. From what he had heard though, it was the same style as Heather Lewis. As much as he hated to think it, Warrick hoped the guy would try something again and slip up. There was too little to go on otherwise.

He glanced at his watch again. Nick had been called about twenty minutes ago. That was the time frame he had given to Grissom on his arrival at the lab. He wasn't worried. Nick probably decided he needed to take a second shower or something.

"Are you daydreaming again, Warrick? I thought we had this discussion already."

His head snapped up at the disturbance. It was almost as if he could feel his blood stop and start in that split second of complete surprise. Last time he thought about making a new phone call to Nick.

"Damn Catherine. What is with everyone here trying to kill me?"

The blonde woman smiled sweetly, "I wouldn't do such a thing. Though I would be interested in who else has threatened your existence these past few days. You always could make such good friends when you try."

"Funny. And it was Nick."

"What did you do to him now?"

"Nothing! I did nothing and he threatened to add my body to our new case," Warrick mocked out with a gasp. The smile on his face took any believability away.

Catherine Willows laughed aloud to that one. She knew those two guys. One of them should have been dead by now with the way they acted around each other. Nothing, but a couple of over-grown boys. Her eyes swept the room.

"Did you kill him first or something? I though Grissom was calling everyone to get in early tonight with your new body."

"Nah, the dude is simply late again, even when he is early. Must be something to do with all those years living on Texas time. Get up with rooster and oil down the body."

Before Catherine could respond, the subject of their teasing walked into the room. Warrick and Catherine immediately stopped and looked at the other man. Nick still looked as if he was exhausted. And Warrick could have sworn he had seen Nick where the same clothes the day before last.

"It is about time you get here man. You should be more accurate with your estimates. You are clocked in at twenty-six minutes."

"You timing me, 'Rick?"

Catherine decided to stop this argument before it could even start to begin, "Now that we are all here, we should go see Grissom. Things have to be figured out."

The two men starred after their superior CSI. That woman always could put the two hot-shots in their place faster than a blink of an eye. It was always funny for Greg to watch them crumble under her stares and harsh words when they fucked something up. Nick knew he would never take Catherine on in a fight. She played dirty.

Neither hesitated and were out the door on her heels. They headed towards Grissom's office. Sara Sidle and Greg were already waiting there. Gil sat behind his desk and was looking over some files. Catherine cleared her throat to announce their arrival.

Gil looked up, "Good. Now that everyone is here, we have a lot of work to do. I want everyone to take a piece of this thing. The new body connects pretty nicely to the other so we are going to go with it being done by the same person. Nick, Warrick, I want you two to continue what you were doing with the evidence from the first murder. Sara, I want you and Catherine to take Greg to get started on the new evidence from the second D.B. I am going to work with Doc Robbins on each girl to see what connections we can find with them.

Everyone in the room took their orders with a nod of the head. The two girls each grabbed one of Greg's arms and pulled him from the room before he could mumble a word. Nick was about to leave the room when Grissom asked for both of them to stay.

"I need you two to get as much as you can from the treads and the cloth. There are a few similarities with the new one. When I have more information and clues, I will fill you two in and then together we can get things rolling."

Warrick grinned a little, "Sounds like we had better get right to work then, eh boss."

"Getting right on top of things," Nick stated as he walked out of the room with Warrick on his heels this time, "Do you have anything solid on your side of things?"

"No. I am stuck on four possible matches for the tires. Without an actual car, I really don't have much to go on. You?"

"Well, we have her detox results and have nothing in her blood that she herself put there. And as for the cloth, it is everyday cotton found in three major t-shirt brands that can be purchased at any shop around the country. I really have nothing special."

Warrick nodded grimly. They had worked hard and worked on the little evidence they had, but still came up with nothing. Robbins hadn't given them too much else to work with either. They new the cause of the death was caused by the strangulation with some sort of wide weapon. The girl fought, but the skin and blood samples from under her nails found no match in the database they had. All they really had left to do was go over the few faxes that they received during the day from the other labs. Maybe something would pop out with those.

"Nicky, maybe we should go read those faxes first. Then we may be able to get a new angle on our stuff."

"Sounds like a plan to me. Some reading won't hurt."

They walked off together, gates matched perfectly. There was a touch of defeat showing through the slouch of their shoulders. It was going tough. Neither wanted to be the tough to go.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

The lights were so much brighter than he expected. It was almost like a sensory overload. Ken didn't know what to look at first. The casino fronts pulled his attention with glitter and glam. The people pulled it right back with all the young, female flesh open to him. It was like a buffet. There was no doubt in his mind that he would find a new one tonight. He was going to kill again.

Ken walked slowly and didn't move out of the way for anyone. There was no reason for him to hurry. He had to pick carefully and observe. As he walked past the famous pyramid casino, he had forgotten the name, a loud giggle sounded into the night. Ken looked to his left and smiled. There were two girls hanging on each other. They were drunk. They would be easy.

He sauntered over to them, a smile with all the charm he could muster was on his face. The two girls giggled even louder when they finally noticed him. Ken made a big show of checking them out and making them feel as if he were interested in them. The red-head stepped towards him first, her chest thrust out.

"Well, hi there. What is a hot looking guy like you doing walking around all alone? Limp or something?"

"No sugar. I am simply waiting until I find two morsels such as yourselves. You two are exactly what I have been looking for."

The other girl pushed herself up straighter, "You want us both? What do you think we are? We aren't something you can do as a group kind of thing."

Her drunk talk only made Ken smile larger, "I could handle you both. You will both scream for me by the end of the night, I promise."

The red-head tuned to whisper in the other girl's ear. Ken watched with interest. This was going to be one the easiest grabs to date. If they came to his hotel room with him, he could do as he pleased and kill them before morning.

"What do you say ladies? Want to try something new?"

"Alright. Sounds like it could be fun. My name's Heidi," the red-head supplied, "And my friend is Colleen."

"Well, we should probably head back to my room then. I am going to need all night to do what I want to you two sweet asses."

Colleen looked unsure, but didn't refuse. Heidi looked as if she would jump the street light right then and there. Ken took one of each of their arms and led them away from the crowds. No one even noticed the handsome man walked off with the two drunks.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Nick's head was beginning to pound. The faxes were not all that informative and there wasn't enough to make any real connections. Several young women had been killed in the four states that had responded to the request by Grissom. They had all been strangled, but only a few had been raped. There had been no evidence of the killer other than some samples found under their nails. Nick made a mental note to have a new request sent to get the results from their tests.

A sigh from Warrick made him lift his head. His partner was rubbing his eyes with his index fingers. The taller CSI hated this sort of work. He would much rather be out in the field. Nick knew deep down, he wished to be as well.

"Well, I think we got the sort end of the stick on this one. I just hope someone else made some progress. This is really being to suck."

"You can say that again. Why don't we head out to check on them? Anything new would be a great help to my head at this moment."

Nick nodded and the two men were on their feet. Catherine and Grissom were only a few doors down in one of the labs. They were both looking into a couple of microscopes at something. Nick could see their lips moving. Neither seemed extremely excited though.

Warrick pushed the door open. The two older CSI's looked up at the new arrivals. Grissom didn't acknowledge their entrance. Catherine smiled and waved them over.

"Hey. How are my two favorite guys?"

"Miserable and worn out from reading those faxes. The sad part, I am going to need them to send even more to us so we can get the results from the DNA tests from the samples they found under the nails of the victims."

Nick nodded his agreement with Warrick's statement. He was eager to hear what the others had found out through their work. Somehow, things had to come together and the new body may add the pieces they were missing.

"So, we have some new information that I am sure you two are most interested in. Gil and I have been doing a lot of work," Catherine said.

Warrick chuckled, "So, spill it."

"Well, it seems that this is a serial. The new girl, Becca Marks, has the same marks and signs of strangulation Heather did. And there were also traces of ether. You guys missed a fax out of New Mexico. There was more information in that one. They had two girls murdered there, same story. This guy is jumping states."

"Did they have anything on how it could be?" Nick asked with apprehension.

Catherine shook her head, "They have DNA from skin cells under the girls' nails. It is a match to each other, but not to anything on file. My guess it is the same everywhere. This was one clean guy before he stated killing young woman."

"So, even if Nick and I get anything off our stuff, it won't matter. But hopefully we can get a similar match with the DNA. I would bet the dude is still in Vegas taking in the good life."

"Could be. I just hope he stays long enough to do something stupid, but not kill anyone else. Brass wants to put out a notice to the media to warn people to be on the lookout. I seriously doubt it would do any good though."

Nick stared at the floor. This was getting way too messed up. He really couldn't believe that there was some guy driving around from state to state killing people. What really got to him too was that there was nothing from the past of this guy. How could someone with no past of any problems suddenly become an expert in murder?

"So, I guess we should get on those other labs to see if we can get one positive John Doe match going. If we can connect all these cases to one guy, then maybe we can piece something else together. I say we start having Brass send out his guys to look for anything odd, even for Vegas."

Warrick and Catherine looked towards Nick with wide eyes. It was unusual for Nick to play the Grissom role in the lab. It was reassuring to both to see the man understand his ability to take charge.

"Alright bro, let's get on the phone and start bugging the hell out of some people. Just don't use that damn drawl too much. Some people just can't understand that stuff."

"If you can get it man, I think anyone can. I mean, you are a little slow on the uptake my friend."

Catherine laughed as she watched Nick run from the room at full speed with Warrick hot on his heels. She laughed even harder when she saw the taller CSI gain on the other and take him down in the hallway. Good thing Eickles was off already

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Heidi literally threw herself at the sandy blonde haired man. He had said his name was Ken, but she could have cared less. The hotel room was enough for her to know who he was, money the man kissed her back with the passion she was giving him. She could never hold her drinks.

"Sugar, lets move this to the bed. I want this to be just right."

The red-headed girl giggled and dropped herself onto the bed for the man. She looked over at Colleen. Her friend still hadn't moved from the doorway. Colleen could always be a downer.

"Come on girl! Let's see what this guy has in him!"

With that being said, Heidi grabbed Ken's shirt and pulled him down on top of her. Even with her lips being quite busy, her ears heard Colleen move towards the bed. It dipped slightly under her added weight to Heidi's right. Heidi reached out her hand and took one of the other girl's in hers. Neither had ever done anything like this before, but Heidi was most certainly ready at that moment.

Ken wasn't complaining either. The red-head was most eager and willing. The damn blonde chick was the one not cooperating with the plan. But as he attacked the young girl's mouth under his, his mind was racing with ideas. Colleen would come around soon enough. Ken was sure he could think of a good reason for her. He felt an extra set of hands on his back.

"That's it babe. You can play too. All three of us are going to have one hell of a good time," he moaned between deepening breaths.

TBC….no comment…


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary: **A serial killer comes to town on the boy's night to work. Things don't go calmly for Nick or Warrick when the killer decided to not play nice.

**Disclaimer: **This is all written in fun and trial for something new. Everything CSI is not mine and never will be. It belongs to the creative talent of the actors, the writers, the directors, and producers. I am not making any money off of this. Only meant to offer something new on something already so great. No reason to sue.

**Author's Note: **I made sure to find some time to get this chapter up for all of you. Hopefully this one will get you thinking about what is in store for our boys. This will be the last update until Tues. I am having some issues with work right now and will be spending the entire weekend working on getting it fixed. Who would have thought the world of photo finishing would be such a pain! But anyways, enough about me, I just want you all to enjoy. I have this written through chapter 11 so far and I think you will enjoy it all. The reviews are great and keep me wanting to make this the best I can make it. Thanks again to all. I finally figured out how to check on how many people read these stories (I know, I am a dork!) and I was shocked! There are so many! That just is...awesome. I hope to keep you all interested. Let me know how you are feeling with this. I have more to write. I may be able to add something more if it is asked for. Now that I rambled you all to death, read away. Enjoy and sleep well.

_**Breath for me**_

Written by: duffshel

**#6**

The television screen continued to change with a flick of Nick's wrist. He really didn't know what he wanted to watch. It had been a very unproductive shift and Nick was frustrated. They had gotten the faxes in from the other jurisdictions and had a match between all of them. But not a single lab had any sort of match to a real person.

Nick rubbed his forehead as he settled on the Animal Planet. It wasn't a bird show, but he always enjoyed watching the Animal Police in action. Putting bad guys away from a different angle. Not that he would ever tell anyone, especially Warrick, but he would so do something like that if he wasn't a CSI. Currently, the two officers were looking through an elderly woman's home in which she had over thirty felines running wild. It was disgusting.

All Nick really wanted to do was go to sleep, but his mind seemed to have different ideas. It was running a mile a minute without his permission. The two dead girls were all he could think about. He had made his own trip to see Robbins and got a new look at both bodies. It chilled him slightly to think there were people out there capable of doing things like that.

"It is disgusting."

The TV didn't respond. Nick glared at it for a minute. First sign of insanity, staring contests with inanimate objects.

Nick pushed himself off the couch and turned off the TV. He really needed to get some sort of sleep. His new shift was about to start in just over three hours. Grissom was going to kill him if he couldn't stay awake on his feet. The doorway of his bedroom was in his sights. The damn phone started ringing.

"Figures. Can't get a break…Hello?"

It was Grissom, "Nick, we have another victim. He is getting less careful with his drop-offs though. I want you to meet Warrick there and get started. Catherine and I have some things to finish up at the lab. Brass is on the scene."

"Alright, did you call Warrick already?"

"Yes, he is getting ready as we speak. The body is on the corner of Vegas Blvd. and Mesquite Ave. Fill us in as soon as you get anything. I will send Dave in as soon as he is free."

"Okay, talk to ya later."

Nick cast one more longing glance at his room. So much for sleep. Since he was already dressed, Nick simply grabbed his keys and walked to his truck. There were enough supplies left in the back. He wouldn't need to swing by the lab to pick anything up. The truck started smoothly. Maybe this night was following the example.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Ken waited impatiently. The girl had been on the damn street corner for almost an hour now. The cops here in Vegas were not that impressive. Standing behind the yellow tape, he could make out the one that had to be in charge. The guy was mean looking, but Ken would never fear him.

He had done this before. In New Mexico, the police were nothing, but incompetent slobs and there had been no worries about them getting anywhere with that girl…whatever her name was again. It was so damn hard to remember each one. Only a special few got a part of Ken's memory.

The news always made Las Vegas sound grand and their CSI lab was considered one of the best in the country. Ken knew very little about the department itself, but had heard it was lead by Gil Grissom. The guy was supposed to be top notch and knew all sorts of crap. Ken was hoping to catch a glimpse of him. If he could get away with murder underneath that man' nose, Ken would be able to die happy.

But so far, only cops. Nothing, but cop cars. A small group of citizens had gathered around him trying to catch a look at the murder. Not that it was anything special. Heidi only had the marks from his belt. There was no blood. Ken didn't like blood. Hard to wash out of his pants.

Ken was about to go get something to eat when a new vehicle pulled up to the scene. It was a large, black SUV. The driver's door swung open and out stepped a tall, black man. He didn't wear a uniform. He was dressed like he was going out to have drinks, not look at a dead girl. The cops let him through with his black bag after a flash of a badge. This wasn't Grissom, but it was a CSI.

Warrick walked under the yellow tape completely unaware of dangerous eyes watching him from the crowd. He had eyes only for the young girl laying face down in the curb of the street. With a quick glance around the area, he didn't spot Nick.

"Hey Brass, is Nicky here yet?"

"Nah. I am sure he is on his way though. Give the kid a break."

"I'll give him a break, a break of my fist."

Brass smiled and nodded, "Sure, sure. Just leave enough of him to help you out on this case."

Warrick followed the older man into the crime scene and got a look at the body. Unlike Heather, this one was completely face down on the cement. With a sigh, he put his equipment down and pulled on his latex gloves. He was adjusting his camera when Brass spoke softly, as if to he.

"Speak of our late devil."

Spinning in his crouched position, Warrick could see Nick pull up in his SUV, "Not late, just with style."

Ken also turned to look at the new arrival, Nicky if he was correct from the other two's conversation. This one looked a little more interesting than the taller man. There was a sense of vulnerability and innocence to this shorter man. Some day Ken was certain something would happen to this man that would come close to breaking his spirit. Just a small guessing gift that Ken possessed. It was kind of fun to use of people.

"So, what did I miss?"

Warrick walked up to Nick and smiled at him, "Not a thing. Just got here myself, bro. You seriously need to work on your timing skills though."

"You need to tell Grissom he needs to call me first then. I might actually get here on time with you for once then."

"Sure, sure. Blame it on the big guy."

Nick smirked, "I will. Let's get this done and over with. Dave should be hot on my tail."

The two CSI's walked casually around the body scanning the street's surface. Nick pulled on his latex gloves with apparent ease. Ken was enjoying their little show. These two men were fascinating to him in a way he had never known before. The women he killed did nothing, but excite him for a few hours. None of them caught his interest like this before. It was odd, but thrilling.

Nick bent down on one knee to try to get a better look at the girl's face. The flash from Warrick's camera did nothing to distract him. After snapping a few pictures of his own of her upper body and back of her head, Nick brushed her hair away from her face, just like with Heather. A small chill ran up the man's spine. This girl had the marks around her neck. Nick tried to control the shaking of his hands as he took a few new photos of the new angle.

Warrick watched Nick closely. He could see the slight shake the other man was trying to fight. Nick always had a hard time with cases like these. Warrick understood it, but was glad he really didn't feel the same. Things were hard enough. He didn't need to emotionally connect as deeply as his best friend did.

"I think we have a serious problem. This guy is not stopping."

"Nope. There has to be something here. The dude cannot be perfect. He has to make a mistake sometime."

Warrick nodded his agreement. Somehow there had to be a break in the case. There was no way he had gotten that unlucky. Nick was the one with problems in the luck department, not the expert gambler. As he walked over to his friend's side, he looked over the crowd that was gathering. A lot of people had gathered. He was about to comment about it, but Dave run up out of breath.

"Sorry guys, the traffic was terrible. Do you two need to do anything more?"

"Nah, Nicky and I are done with our photos. We will wait until you are done, then we will process the scene."

David nodded and began his work. He got out his tools to do his infamous liver temperature test. Nick and Warrick both stood together off to the side, facing the crowd. Ken could see them both clearly and couldn't take his eyes off of them. These two knew what they were doing. These two were going to be trouble. The killer was going to wait this one out and determine from there what to do. He couldn't be caught now.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Gil looked over the papers on his desk with little interest. He wanted nothing more than to get back to this serial case, but this paperwork from the previous case him and Greg worked on came back to haunt him. The trial was coming up sooner than he had expected and he needed to have his reports together. With a sigh, he wiped his forehead off with his left hand and closed his eyes. He could feel a headache coming on.

"You wanna talk about it?"

Grissom simply shook his head. He knew Catherine was going to come by sooner or later. Still didn't mean he wanted to talk about anything.

"Well, you can sit there with your eyes closed while I talk then. I just got off the phone with Warrick and he said Dave is on his way with the new body. From how it sounds, our guy is moving fast. This new one has only been dead for a little over four hours. I have a feeling we will be seeing more from him within the next twenty four."

"I hate to agree with you, but I have to. Something is not right about this. He never killed so many girls in one place before. There is something he is trying to do. I don't know what."

"Well Gil, you aren't super-CSI-man. If you understood anything at this point, I would probably have to shoot you for leaving me in the dust."

Gil laughed under his breath, "Well, I suppose we should go meet with Robbins to get this new body figured out. The evidence is all we have at this point."

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Nick couldn't leave the street for some reason. There was something that would not let him leave. Warrick was shifting from foot to foot next to him. The taller CSI was not going to leave until Nick himself did. He was not going to leave his partner, his brother to broad over this alone.

"There is no reason to stay here man. We should head out and get something to eat. I don't know about you, but I didn't have time to grab anything before I left my place."

Nick didn't respond. He didn't move. Even his eyes stayed focus on the pavement in front of him.

"Come on Nicky. I don't know what is wrong with you all of a sudden, but you have to snap out of it. You are acting like a child."

"What would you know about it? You don't feel anything towards these people, towards the victims. You _are_ turning into Grissom."

It was whispered, but Warrick heard it as if it were a shout. The air gushed out of his lungs at the comment. Nick had said some things during the years that were cold and harsh; this was defiantly one of those. It hurt even though he knew it was true to a certain level.

"Just because I don't get all mushy over things like you does not mean I don't get how people work and think."

Nick snorted to himself, "Whatever man. I am not going there with you right here right now. If you want to continue this, we can go grab something to eat."

Warrick studied Nick a little closer. The man was exhausted, but seemed to be alert. Well, at least his eyes were. He knew Nick was upset that there was nothing at the scene again to give them anything on the killer. Warrick wanted to guy caught, but no where near as much as Nick. Nick got personal with everything. He knew it had to deal with the man's past, but there were certain things even he didn't know about his brother.

"Food sounds good. But you are not off the hook for that damn comment. We will get to it soon, mark my words."

"Fine, let's get out of here. I think it is going to rain."

Ken watched the two men. There was so much emotion between the two of them. They just seemed like they were going to start punching each other at one moment, and now they were walking closely together. If you took out one, the other would fall. Ken couldn't stop his feet from following them. Their getting into the SUV's did nothing to stop him. He would follow, he would learn.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Nick looked over the menu in his hands. There really wasn't anything that was catching his eyes. His mind really wasn't in the restaurant and food. He could feel Warrick's eyes on him. Deep down he regretted everything he had said, today and before, but knew he meant it to a certain point.

"See anything with enough grease in it?"

"I guess."

"Come on man. What is up with you all of a sudden?"

Nick rubbed his eyes with his fingers, "I don't know. It just sort of happened after I took in the girl's face. All of them, so young. There is nothing that makes this seem possible for any of them. I just want to get the asshole. I don't know how to deal with this."

It suddenly struck Warrick, "This is your first serial isn't it!"

"Yeah. I mean, I have been around for when the rest of you guys have working on serials, but never gotten so involved. I am going soft."

"Nah, bro. You simply are human. I understand where you are coming from. My first repeating killer was tough. We will get him. We will stop him. You and me."

Nick nodded. Warrick was always there to pick him up when he needed it. He could count on the taller man. "I hope you are right man."

"Of course I am right. I am always right."

The waitress walked up. She looked upset about something, but neither man felt it their place to ask. Warrick caught Nick's eyes. They would leave a nice tip. She took their order without any idle chit-chat.

Ken watched with interest. The waitress was nice, but he was on a time budget. The boys would be enough to handle without her as well.

TBC…pancakes sound kinda good right now…


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary: **A serial killer comes to town on the boy's night to work. Things don't go calmly for Nick or Warrick when the killer decided to not play nice.

**Disclaimer: **This is all written in fun and trial for something new. Everything CSI is not mine and never will be. It belongs to the creative talent of the actors, the writers, the directors, and producers. I am not making any money off of this. Only meant to offer something new on something already so great. No reason to sue.

**Author's Note:** Wow, I got the most reviews on a chapter for the last one. Glad to hear that you guys are liking this and yes, the angst will begin for those of you who are waiting for it. I managed to sneak away for a minute and grabbed my laptop so I could post tonight. I am anxious to see what you all think of this new chapter and want to give you all plenty of time to read it. I am never going to try to predict a post again as I am zero for two. But I am really glad you are all enjoying our bad guy. I wanted to try writing something where he was one of the primary characters as well so that you will either love/hate/pity/whatever him by the end. So anyways, enjoy as always and I am not promising anything from here on out. There are things that happen in the night and not all of it can be pretty...

_**Breath for me**_

Written by: duffshel

**#7**

Ken whistled to himself as he walked back to his hotel room. He had followed the two CSI's from their food break back to the lab in which they worked. From listening in on their conversations he learned their names and caught onto the brother talk between the two. It seemed odd to him that these two could consider each other brothers. There was nothing in common with the two. Ken just didn't see how they could connect. He never did with anyone.

The two men parked close to each other in the lot and seemed to have the same schedule as each other. Ken would need to get his rental in order to follow them farther. Cabs just got to be too damn pricey.

The hotel was loud and crowded. People were yelling and shouting with joy and despair. The lights were flashing for the nightly show that attracted every camera in the area. It was too much. It was something that made Ken's skin itch.

He shoved his way through the crowds towards the elevators. It took too long to move down to the main floor. An extremely drunk couple came up behind him in the time it took for the doors to open. They stumbled in, giggling like fools. Ken would shoot them if he had the gun and the stomach for it. He was hopping by the time it dinged for his floor.

Scowling to himself, he pulled out his key card and marched loudly to his door. He was in an excellent mood before this damn hotel. The door protested his treatment of it as he flung it open.

"Honey, I'm home. And I'm pissed!"

Colleen simply whimpered.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

"The same M.O. on this body as the last two. I don't get what his game is, but he doesn't seem to be stopping. Heidi Victor's mother and father came in to identify the body. They said her girlfriend that went out with her last night is missing. I say he has her as well."

Nick and Warrick listened closely to Grissom. Their boss had put a few things together and was willing to run with them. He just needed to get his entire team on board. Catherine, Sara, and Greg all had agreed and had each taken a different aspect of this case. Gil wanted his guys to work together and head out on the street for any clues they could find.

"I want you two to visit the sites again and see if you can put any connections between them. I have Hodges looking into any hotel rooms that could be part of the crimes. We are going to get this done soon."

Gil looked over the two younger men. He held high hopes and respect for them both. They were decent people and worked hard. Warrick had come far since he got a handle on his gambling problem. Nick was getting better at ignoring the emotions with cases. If only the poor Texan's luck would turn.

"Keep your phones handy and your eyes open. There is something about this guy that just isn't right. I want caution from everyone. Don't play the hero."

Warrick looked up at Grissom. His words didn't make a whole lot of sense. It seemed like a speech you saved for a cop going into a raid or something. It wasn't like they were actually going to run into the killer in the middle of the street.

"Don't worry Gris. I will keep Nicky out of trouble. I will watch my boy's back."

"My back! What about yours?"

"It will be fine. My back doesn't have your history."

Nick pouted. He knew his history. He didn't need it through in his face right before going back out on the field. "Fine. Just make sure you don't forget where mine is."

There was tension between the two. Grissom could sense it, but he knew he came in on the middle of whatever they were going on about. He didn't want to deal with that right now. Saying nothing else to them, Gil walked out of the room.

"Look Nick, we need to get over whatever the hell is going on between us. I will not go into the field with this over our heads right now."

"I honestly don't know what is going on. I just…I don't know."

Warrick walked over to stand next to his friend. He threw an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. Nick submitted. The taller CSI was bigger anyways. For as much muscle as Nick had, Warrick still had the upper edge.

"Okay. After this mess is all sorted out, you and I are going to figure this shit out. I don't care how long it takes brother, but we are going to move on. I will help you figure it out."

"I am sorry man. I just don't know what has gotten into me. These girls…these murders…I don't know. There is just something I feel we are missing. Something is starring right at us and we are missing it big time."

"You're probably right. It's going to come up and bite us in the ass to let us know."

Warrick pulled Nick out, still keeping his hold around his shoulders. There was a definite slump to them that should not be there. Defeat was not an option. This guy was going to go down, down hard.

The two men walked slowly, keeping the distance tight. People starred, but no one said anything. It was better to leave the two in their own world when these kinds of things happened. One time, a few years back, a former tech. had said something to Nick about his lack of ability in the field. It was Warrick that gave the answering punch. No one was willing to mess with the duo at that moment.

It was nice weather outside. There was actually a slight breeze under the starry night. Both men had only been working for about four hours, but to Nick, it felt like an age. After this was all settled, he really needed to take some vacation time.

"So which scene should we check out first?"

Warrick shrugged, "I guess we could start from beginning and head to the end. The street curb will still be taped off and watched by the cops for a few more hours. I say we head to the park."

"Okay. You can drive."

Warrick had to stop deep in his tracks. That was not something you usually heard from either of these two. It was a sign of something wrong. Nick kept walking.

"Alright man. Just don't get the truck floor dirty!"

"If I can find it, I will watch out for it."

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

The engine idled quietly in the dark parking spot. Cricket chirps were the only sound over the rumble of distant traffic. Ken wore a smirk of content. The street lights cast a yellow tone across the grass. A line of light managed to fight its way through the branches of the tree the car was parked under. Ken's eyes were lit up.

His little ducklings were all in a row across the park in the rubber water fountain. The man had just made it back to the lab in order to see Nick and Warrick leave. It had been an easy tail. He was surprised though to see that they went back to an older crime scene. Again, his interest was peaked.

The car was once again a Ford. He needed the backseat and trunk space for this one. These guys were not Geo size. His leather gloves warmed the flesh on his hands. He was ready. He was impatient.

The shorter man was down on one knee looking over the red mat again. Ken really didn't understand what they were trying to do, but he really didn't care. He just hoped they would separate enough so that he could get them both without too much trouble. Nick would be perfect if he would stay in that position.

Carefully, Ken turned off the engine and opened the car door. He kept his gaze on the two men as he unfolded himself from the driver's seat, pulling the keys from the ignition as he went. Not bothering to close the door, Ken walked around the large oak hiding him from the other men. The black CSI had his back towards this end of the park.

The grass crunched slightly under the white Reeboks. There were enough shadows lurking for murder to creep through. White cloth in black leather was not noticeable in the yellow glow.

Nick had bent forward to move some twigs away. He still felt uneasy. His hands were steady, but his mind was not. As soon as he left the truck, something was off in the air. Warrick said he was overreacting and there was nothing wrong in the park.

It was quiet. He even felt it to a point where he would even be corny. It was too quiet. The red rubber looked odd to him without the lights cast by the police cars. With just the lights from the street lamps, it looked like an orange death trap.

Warrick was walking away towards where the tire tracks had been. There was nothing popping out at either man as odd. They heard nothing of the footsteps behind them.

The ether didn't give off enough fumes to warn either man at a distance. Ken held it at ready. Nick was the closest and would be first. The blonde man walked proud and confident up right behind the CSI and with his left hand, grabbed Nick by the shoulder. Ken couldn't get the cloth over his mouth before he yelled out in shock.

Warrick whipped around at the sound of distress. The sight stopped his heart. A tall man had his partner by the shoulder with a cloth pressed up to his face. Nick was struggling weakly against him. With a roar of rage, Warrick jumped towards the two men.

Ken was prepared. He took a step back from Nick and pulled out a gun. Knowing there would be two, and male, Ken felt he needed something more than his belt. Finding a gun salesman in Vegas was even easier than he had thought.

"If you were smart, you would stop there and not move."

It was enough to stop the black man in his tracks. His wide eyes met the glazed eyes of Nick. Both men had been held at gun point before, but never with one of them held behind it hostage. This was not something he was ready for at all.

"Just stay calm, man. Let Nick go. Nothing has to happen here."

Ken snorted, "Everything is going to happen here. You two are going to come with me. Just keep it nice and simple. No one needs to be shot."

Nick's head seemed to weigh a ton and the voices of the other two were thick and unclear. He could sense Warrick was near, but couldn't figure out where. Panic shot through his entire being. Nick needed to know where his partner was.

"War...arrick…"

A lump in Warrick's throat threatened to choke him at the pathetic attempt of Nick's to call out for him. He had never heard Nick sound like that and he had seen the other man during many different trials throughout the year. Whatever this stranger had in the cloth was screwing with his man's body.

"What did you do to him! I swear, you are going to pay for this!"

"My, my. It seems that you think you have some sort of power in this situation. I am sorry…Warrick, was it…but there is no control here for either of you. This is my game now. If you two don't want to end up like all those pretty little girls, you will listen to me."

Warrick's heart really did stop that time, "You! It was you!"

The sandy haired man shook his head as he chuckled. The facial expression of Warrick was positively delicious. "Yep, that would be me. Don't worry. You two will get a full view of how this all works soon."

Nick slowly was gaining control over his body. The ether was losing its power as the fresh air streamed into his lungs. He could make out Warrick now. His heart was still thundering and he felt the tendrils of panic clinging tightly around his conscious. He wanted to ask his friend for help, but the press of something hard and round to the back of his neck stopped that thought process.

"Now, I want you two to walk with me towards the car parked behind me. You two will stay in front of me, but not right next to each other. I want about two feet of air between the two of you. Nick, you are going to have to stand."

Warrick couldn't stop the rage from taking over his body. His vision went slightly red while he watched the killer shove the gun into the back of Nick's head. "We are not going anywhere with you!"

If the headache of all headaches wasn't fogging Nick's mind, he might have laughed. Warrick was being the bigger brother. It was priceless. He would have to harass him for it later when they were laughing over some beers.

"Warrick, please."

"Yes, Warrick, please. Listen to me and no one gets hurt," the man mocked.

It was soft, pain filled voice of Nick that wavered his resolve. He watched the Texan as he struggled to his feet with the gun still rammed hard in the back of his neck. "Who the hell are you? And how the fuck do you know our names?"

"The name's Ken. You will remember it forever. And as for your names, well, I have been watching you two since I dropped of Heidi. I wanted to watch Las Vegas' finest at work and you two showed up. I was…intrigued if you will. Now stand!"

Once Nick was on his feet, Warrick knew his body was hidden more from Ken's vision. The killer was standing about a foot behind Nick. Warrick couldn't see anything, but the right side of the man's face. He knew he would regret this later, but he had to do something.

Without thinking anymore, Warrick lunged his body to the left and forward. Ken really wasn't too surprised at the action. The tall man seemed like someone who would do something stupid like that. Ken pushed the still recovering Nick forward and aimed the gun. He may hate them, but he knew how to use them. The trigger pulled with ease.

"Nick! No!"

TBC…bye!…


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary: **A serial killer comes to town on the boy's night to work. Things don't go calmly for Nick or Warrick when the killer decided to not play nice.

**Disclaimer: **This is all written in fun and trial for something new. Everything CSI is not mine and never will be. It belongs to the creative talent of the actors, the writers, the directors, and producers. I am not making any money off of this. Only meant to offer something new on something already so great. No reason to sue.

**Author's Note: **A lot of people seem worried about Nick dying or something like that. Do I really seem like the kind of person to do such a thing...well, yet? Really am enjoying those reviews though. I am sure some of you understand what a great motivator they are, but I would like to say it again. Keep 'em coming! I don't want to break any rules by responding to any, but know I read them all and enjoy them. But yes, this chapter gets back to the lab for a view on the good 'ol case and...oh yeah...Nick and Warrick...something happens to them... :)

_**Breath for me**_

Written by: duffshel

**#8**

Gil sat staring off into space. His office chair was comfortable, but he really wasn't too aware of the cushioning anyways. The small flip cell phone was sitting next to his left hand where it rested on the desk. He had heard from every member of the team except for Nick and Warrick. Concern was building up, but he wasn't going to do anything quite yet. It was still early. They would call.

The bodies of all the girls had been released and given back to their families. Doc Robbins and Dave had done all they could with each. Everything was the same. Well, except for the latest girl, Miss Victor. She hadn't fought. There was nothing under her nails. And the sexual trauma was not forced. She went to this man without protest. He had still killed her and left nothing, but marks on her neck.

Catherine and Sara had been working on what the weapon was. The marks were too large to be standard rope. And it had to be something sturdy, so not a towel. Catherine suggested maybe some sort of belt. It had to be a fairly wide one from what the ridges told. And had to be real leather from the burn marks in some areas on the skin.

Grissom pinched the bridge of his nose. So, the guy kidnapped them by drugging them with ether. He raped them or he didn't. From all the reports, there was no pattern on that one. It seemed to be random. Then, he strangled them with his belt while they fought and scratched him. Miss Victor was the only one who volunteered herself to the man out of all the girls. There were a lot of them.

"You know, hiding in your office brooding is not good for you health."

"Did you get anything new Catherine?"

The blonde woman smiled grimly as she took a seat in one of the chairs across from Grissom. She had just finished up things with Sara. They had nothing more. This guy was good. No one had any sort of I.D. on him. They had his DNA and blood, but that is nothing without the person to which it belongs.

"Nope. This one is trouble. Hear anything from the guys yet?"

"No. I have heard back from Brass though. He got a report from the airport car rental. They had a Ford returned two days ago. When they were cleaning it out today, they came across something interesting in the trunk. With the reports of the murders out there, they were kind enough to report it. I sent Greg out to meet him."

"Well, that is something then. Maybe whatever it is will help us out here. I am going to go get some coffee. You want some?"

Gil nodded and pushed himself from his chair, "Sure. I need to clear my head a little bit. Then I am calling Warrick to see where they are. I don't care if they think I don't trust them or not. Something isn't right here.'

The two senior CSI's walked quietly out of the office into the hallway. The entire lab seemed to be distressed and quiet. It was a bad omen.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

The bullet entered the night air with a crack. Nick had been fighting to stay on his feet. He didn't even register the sound until a sharp pain erupted in his upper right arm. The bullet took any gain the Texan had on winning his fight with gravity. He crumpled forward onto his hands and knees with a pain filled grunt.

Warrick watched helplessly as his partner fell. He couldn't tell where the bullet hit the Texan, but that didn't matter. All he knew now was this mad man had shot his brother and now he was really pissed. But he couldn't do anything at that moment. The gun had found its new target.

Ken smirked at the two, "Now, I hope there will be nothing more from you with being stupid. I wouldn't hesitate to put three bullets straight into the back of his head if you tried something else."

With a sigh, Warrick placed his hands out in front of himself in a passive gesture. He wasn't going to risk Nick's life. There would be another chance. Another chance where Warrick would break the other guy's neck.

"Now, it seems to me Nick, you have trouble staying on your feet. I would recommend that you find them and get onto them before I get mad."

Nick gathered up his strength and managed to get himself to his feet, but really couldn't seem to get his balance down. He wobbled slightly and reached out a hand to try to find something to help him out. His hand found something, but friendly was not a word anyone would have used for it.

"Now, now. You are a grown man. I am not going to help you," Ken pulled away from under the shaking hand of Nick.

"Come on man. What do you want with us? Leave Nick alone!"

Ken turned his attention away from Nick for a moment to look at Warrick. That man was the poster child for desperation right now. Sweat was beading up on his brow and his eyes were wide. It was amusing, but Ken wanted to get the hell out of that park. He had to get the men into the car.

"Alright. Enough of this bullshit. Warrick, if you would be so kind, please come over here. But walk slowly."

Warrick complied. He really didn't have a choice. The gun was trained on the back of Nick's head now. He made sure his steps were wide and slow. Once he was about a foot in front of Nick and Ken, the gun moved so he was forced to look down the barrel now.

"That is far enough tough guy. Now if you would be so kind, place your wrists together with you palms facing each other."

Ken watched with pure satisfaction as the man once again followed his instructions. Keeping the gun fixed forward, he reached behind him. Neither of the CSI's had noticed the roped coiled into his back pocket. There wasn't a lot of it, but enough to tie up one of the guys. He thrust it forward towards Nick.

"Take this Cowboy. I need ya to rustle me up a bull. Tie it nice and tight. If he can move, he gets a bullet in the knee."

Taking the rope into his own hands, Nick looked into Warrick's eyes. There was trust and hope found there. Nick just wished he could feel some of that. The rope was getting damp from his blood, but he still pulled it out and held it up. Warrick kept his writs together tightly and held his arms out. The Texan looped the rope around and pulled it as tight as he dared.

"Tighter. I want to see it indent his skin. The man is not to move."

Nick pulled it tighter still. He could see how the skin was pushed down under the rough cloth. Neither did he miss the wince that crossed the taller man's face for an instance. But Nick didn't risk making it lose. He tied it off.

"Good job. I see you take instructions well. So let's see if you two remember what I told you earlier about making our way to my car."

Ken stepped back and motioned for the other two to start walking. Warrick reached out with his bound hands and took Nick's elbow. He could see how Nick was still unsteady on his feet and didn't want him to fall. Ken didn't make any moves to stop him.

Once the three men reached the car, Ken stepped forward again. He used the remote on his key chain to pop open the trunk.

"In you go Nicky. And don't screw around doing it."

Panic once again ran its icy fingers through Nick. He had always been a little afraid of tight, closed in places. Warrick was right behind him. The shivers that raked Nick's body were clear to him.

"It's going to okay man. I will see that you come out of there. I am not going to let anything happen to you!"

"Promise?"

The shake in the normally strong voice made Warrick feel a little panic himself, "Always."

"So sweet, but way too slow. Just get in!"

Not taking his eyes off of Warrick, Nick lifted his left leg and placed it inside the truck. Trying to not jab his injured arm, Nick placed himself the best he could into the trunk. He had to curl up into the fetal position in order to get himself in. His eyes darted outward looking for Warrick. He never had a chance. The trunk hood was slammed down.

"So Warrick. Are you going to give me anymore trouble?"

Warrick tore his eyes from the trunk and glared at the man in front of him, "You are seriously ill man. You need help."

"And I bet you would be the first in line to hold my hand and talk with me about my problems. Whatever _man_. Now I want you to get into the backseat. Nice and simple."

The gun was shoved into his rib cage so Warrick had no choice, but to move. He walked to the passenger side of the car and reached forward for the handle. The door swung open easily. Warrick ducked his head down and got ready to climb in. His world went dark before he could move.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Catherine watched Greg as he twitched nervously under the gazes of his senior employees. Sara smiled encouragingly at him, but it did little to take any attention from Grissom's blank mask. Greg had news on the car, but he didn't know how to relay the information. It was big, really big.

"Come on Greg. Just let us know what you have. Then we can run our tests and place the pieces into the puzzle. You will be just fine," Catherine used her most motherly voice.

'Okay. When I got there, Brass already had the car yellow taped and blocked off from anyone. The cleaners had stopped their jobs as soon as they opened the truck. What they found…several stands of black hair. Well, more than strands, there was a large clump."

Gil did nothing. He didn't even seem to blink. Sara's eyes got wider and she shifted in her seat. She was getting excited. They may have found the transport vehicle. Heather had black hair and she was found dead two days ago.

"So, I opened it up and took a good look. I bagged the hairs that I found. As I was about to move onto the interior of the car, I noticed something white against the bumper end of the trunk. Stuck in the locking mechanism, there was a chunk of white cloth."

Now Gil's eyebrows went up. Two pieces of cloth to go with now. "Where there any skin graphs or bits of blood anywhere?"

Greg sighed, "Not that I could see. But it is up to you guys to do that one."

"What are you talking about Greg?" Sara studied the younger man.

"Well, the car should be here soon. I had it towed in."

Catherine laughed as Greg shrugged his shoulders and smiled goofily at them. The kid did the right thing and he knew it. He was just not the kind to make a full blown announcement for it. That was Warrick's department. Speaking of…

"Had anyone heard anything from the guys yet?"

Gil looked at his watch. He really should have gotten something from one of them by now. This was not like either of them.

"I will try to get a hold of them. Maybe they are stuck in traffic or something."

"I dunno about that one. It was easy moving when I was on my way back. Nothing was clogging up the lanes," Greg stated.

"I am still going to try. Good job Greg. You keep this up and you will be working strong in the field in no time," Gil said as he got up and left the room to make the call. He didn't wait to see the beam of content that came across Greg's face at the compliment from the boss.

The cell phone flipped open with a slight snap. He went straight to speed dial for Warrick's phone. Gil held it to his ear and counted the rings. His team was taught to answer the phone by the fourth ring when they were in the field. Four came and went. The voice box picked up after six.

"Brown. Leave a message after the beep."

Gil hung up without leaving a message. He quickly tried Nick's phone. Same thing, just a different message left for the caller.

"This is Nick. Try again or leave a message.'

Grissom walked into his office and sat heavily back into his chair. His phone fell with a thud onto the papers that littered his desk. Something was not right. His guys were not answering their phones. One of them should have answered. He shouldn't have sent them alone.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Ken pulled into his parking spot for his room. This hotel was just down the street from the one in which he killed Heather in. He had to lose the one on the Strip for this little run. No way he could get the two men into the room without every camera in the place capturing his face.

There were only two other cars in the lot. It would be a quiet night at Sleepy Inn. He didn't bother closing the door quietly. Ken first went to the door and opened it. The two men would be heavy enough. He really didn't want to fuck around with the door at the same time.

Warrick was sprawled out on the backseat. There was a little bit of blood clinging to the back of the black hair from where Ken hit him with the gun to knock him out. It wasn't enough to make a mess. Ken reached in and grabbed the tall man under the arms and pulled.

"What the hell do you CSI guys eat? Damn!"

Warrick finally slipped out of the car. His feet hit the ground. The unconscious man groaned, but didn't wake up. Ken regained his grip and hauled the man towards the open door. It went fairly well, but it got Ken working up a nice little sweat.

By the time Ken got Warrick into the bathroom, he thought he was going to hyperventilate. This was ridiculous. Ken needed to hit the gym once he moved away from Vegas and the lights. He took a second and placed his hands on his knees. Deep breaths filled the tiny yellow bathroom.

Once Ken felt better, he walked out of the bathroom into the larger room that served as the bedroom, "How's it going? I brought home company."

Colleen studied her kidnapper through all her tears. She had watched him pull in the black man. She was scared. Ken had brought her to this room after announcing he needed to move. He drugged her and she guess, carried her out wedding style. How else could he get her out without any trouble?

"I have one more for the party. I will be right back, my sweet."

Ken walked out the door and looked around the lot. No one was stirring. He smiled in self-satisfaction as he listened to the trunk unlock. This was worth more than money. This was fun.

TBC…innocent…


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary: **A serial killer comes to town on the boy's night to work. Things don't go calmly for Nick or Warrick when the killer decided to not play nice.

**Disclaimer: **This is all written in fun and trial for something new. Everything CSI is not mine and never will be. It belongs to the creative talent of the actors, the writers, the directors, and producers. I am not making any money off of this. Only meant to offer something new on something already so great. No reason to sue.

**Author's Note: **Nice and early here for ya today. You guys are awesome with the reviews. I hope there will be enough angst and drama through the rest of this for you. I finished typing it up last night and I must say, it turned out better than I thought it would. Updates should be fairly regular until then end, but I am not going to promise anything. Thanks for sticking it out with me and enjoy the next part of the tale. Nick and Warrick wake up to in a situation they don't like, but when do they ever? They are so much fun to paly with in fanfiction! Until next time...

_**Breath for me**_

Written by: duffshel

**#9**

It felt as if there were tiny Hodges pounding away at the tender insides of Nick's brain as he began to wake back up. He really didn't want to open up his eyes, but he also wanted to see what was happening to him now. The trunk had done a number on him. It had been dark and tight. He hated dark and tight.

Ken came to get him. He had been ready with another cloth of that crap he used in the park. This time it had been stronger and knocked the man out cold. That was all he could remember. Now he could feel that his body was sitting upright. The chair was cold. His legs were getting wet.

Nick finally managed to manipulate one of his eyes open. It felt grimy. The other eye seemed to have gotten jealous enough and opened slowly as well. There wasn't a whole lot of light. A yellow wall with peeling tape was directly in front of him, by about three feet.

"What the fuck!"

"Well it about time you wake up, sleeping beauty."

Nick would have jumped a mile into the air if he could have, "What!"

"It's okay Nicky. It is just me, Warrick. Calm down dude."

The voice of his partner was to his left. What Nick could see of the room spun as he turned his head towards the other CSI. He tried to move his body as well, but his arms were pinned down at his sides. With a shake of his hands he felt something cold and metal. The light was stronger, he could make out most of Warrick. The man was handcuffed to the sink.

"Where the hell are we!"

"Man, we are tied up in a god damn bathroom. But don't ask me where this bathroom is because I just woke from my nap not too long ago as well."

Nick frowned and tried to assess his situation. If Warrick was attached to the sink and his legs were getting damp, then the toilet was the only thing left. Sure enough, his arms had been pulled down along side his body and there were two lengths of handcuffs holding his wrists in place underneath the tank.

"This guy is one messed up asshole. He chained me to the damn toilet! Who the hell chains another person to a toilet!"

There was a hint of desperation and, of course, panic in Nick's voice as he made his declaration to Warrick. Warrick really wished his hands were free at that moment. He felt that if he could touch his partner in anyway it would help the other to focus. It was then that he realized his legs were still free. He reached over his right foot and pressed down on Nick's.

"Hey, hey. Calm down, please. I need you to think clearly with me here if we are going to get out of this mess and take this guy out. Can you do that for me?"

Nick took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Yeah. I will try. Give me a minute, okay?"

"Whatever you need, bro. It is yours."

"Even a chocolate sundae?"

"Just shut up."

Nick smiled despite himself. He could feel himself begin to gain control and return to normal his normal self. Air was flowing into his lungs and giving him something to focus on other than the darkness and confinement of the room. They would make it out of there.

"So, what's the plan 'Rick?"

"How come I always have to come up with the plans? You should be able to come up with something."

"I really would, but the throbbing in my arm is getting worst. I had forgotten about that bullet there for a minute. It doesn't seem to be bleeding anymore.'

Warrick could have kicked himself. He had forgotten about that as well. From what he could remember seeing as he watch Nick put himself in the trunk, there was not a lot of damage. It looked to be more of a flesh wound.

"I am still taking you to the damn hospital."

"Fine, but when they start poking me with every god damn needle in the place, you are going to owe me so big man."

"Yeah, whatever. You are such a wimp for a cowboy."

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()

Ken sat next to Colleen on the hotel bed. He was still trying to figure out what he wanted to do now that he had the two guys in the bathroom. They would be a lot of fun to mess with. One could most definitely be used against the other. This could be a fun game if he played his cards right.

Colleen was sniffling again. She had been crying pretty much since the moment Ken had murdered Heidi right in front of her. Her eyes were puffy and red. Ken would really like to keep her around, but she was nothing. She was extra baggage.

"So honey, did you take a good look at our guests?"

She had learned to answer him when he asked her something. She nodded her head. The gag was still tight in her mouth. She had taken a good look at the two men. They looked like they were important.

"I bet you are wondering who they are. They are the guys who are supposed to be figuring out it is me that is killing everyone. Those are CSI's finest."

The girl gasped in fear. He had captured cops. There were cops handcuffed in the bathroom. These were the men she was supposed to be relying on to save her from the same fate of Heidi. She was completely doomed.

"They are going to watch me kill you. Then they are going to suffer until I kill them as well. Then it is off to Missouri."

More tears began to stream down her cheeks to soak into the rag. There was nothing she could do. She had nothing anymore.

Ken laughed as he watched her crumble right before his eyes. Just watching her made it all worth it, but he wanted to keep the party going. He stood and stretched his back out. With a slight bounce in his step, Ken walked to the door of the bathroom. The light switch was on his side of the door. He flipped it up and opened the door.

The two men had cringed away from the extra light from the bulbs above the mirror. Warrick was leaning up against the metal leg that held up the sink. His arms were twisted awkwardly back towards the piping where his hands were tied. Nick was sitting slumped backwards on the toilet because of the way his arms were pulled backwards behind the tank.

"I see you two are finally awake. About time at that."

Warrick glared up at Ken, "What the hell are you going to do with us?"

"Haven't you watched enough movies or television Warrick to know that the bad guy isn't going to answer a dumb question like that?"

"We are too busy cracking down on assholes like you to watch stupid crap like that," Nick grumbled.

"Such language Nicholas. As a fellow Texan, I know your mama didn't raise you like that. Oh don't give me that look, I know a fellow longhorn when I hear one. I just don't…like to use my accent. Makes me sound like a southern fool. Not attractive to prey."

Ken smiled down upon his two captives. He could sense the anger rolling off of them, but it was the under lying panic that made his blood boil. Hopefully there would much more of that in the air very soon. Reaching towards the dresser next to the bathroom door with his right hand, Ken grabbed the gun. He waved it into the room.

"Now, I am going to move you two into the main room. I have a nice show for you both. But if either of you tried anything, the other will be the one to pay."

Warrick glared at the man, "You are not going to get away with this. The more you do to us, the more you seal your fate."

"Not a good answer," Ken walked across the bathroom in two large steps. Before either man could move, the butt of the gun impacted with the side of Nick's head. Ken smiled as the Texan's head whipped hard to the right.

"Hey, what are you doing!"

Ken turned back towards Warrick with a gleam in his eye, "Anything you want to add. I could go all night pistol whipping this boy if that is what you want."

Nick groaned and ran his tongue over his teeth. He could have sworn one was knocked out when the metal hit the side of his jaw. That was going to be one bitch of a bruise in the morning. He could hear in a fog Warrick yelling something, but really didn't want to put any energy into figuring out what it was.

"Just leave him alone! Nick! Talk to me man. Don't you dare touch him again."

The handcuff key was pulled from Ken's pocket and he reached down to pop it into the lock at Nick's wrist. The cuff fell open. Ken stood and placed the gun at Nick's temple.

"Nice and slow. Get up and walk."

Nick spit out the wade of spit that had gathered in him mouth. The throbbing in his jaw increased at the action, but Nick ignored it. He pushed himself up from the toilet lid and stood. There wasn't a lot of room in the bathroom with all three men in it. Nick had to step over Warrick's legs to get through. Once in the main room, the lighting increased as did the beat of Nick's heart.

"What the hell? Who is that?"

Colleen looked at the man with large, pleading eyes. She whimpered through the gag. Her arms tugged on the ropes holding her arms above her head. This guy was a cop. They knew how to do anything in any situation.

"She is simply a message. Don't worry, we will not be in her company for much longer."

The gun pushed Nick along the room to the metal table. Being this close to it now, Nick could see that the stand was wielded right into the floor. Ken kicked him hard in the back of his left knee. Nick went down hard. Before he could do anything, the cuff was back around his free wrist. Ken shuffled away.

Warrick had been trying to see out of the bathroom to see what was happening. He could hear Nick freak out about something. Then there was a thud. Ken was back in the doorway seconds later.

"Come on now playboy. Let's get this party stared. Just be good and nothing will happen to your partner."

Trusting that the man was telling the truth, Warrick didn't move a muscle until Ken told him to stand and walk. The girl on the bed really didn't surprise him. It seemed like something this asshole would do. He found his partner sitting on the floor next to the metal table. Warrick was nudged to the other side. He sat and allowed his arms to be reconnecting with the table base between them.

Ken stood back and stretched his spine. After that refreshing crack, his hands reached down to his belt buckle. Colleen began to panic at the movement. She knew what it meant.

Nick felt his stomach churn at the thought of what the man could be doing. There was no way he could sit there and watch him rape the girl on the bed. He would rip this table out of the ground to stop the killer. Warrick had tensed next to him as well. He was sure the taller man was thinking along the same lines as he was.

The buckel snapped together. Ken walked over to the bed and knelt down on the edge. It dipped under his weight, causing Colleen to roll towards him.

"Alright now sweetie. It is time to show these two nice men how nice I play with my women. I hope you enjoy this as much as me."

The loop slipped over her head even with her tossing it. Leather scrapped along flesh as he pulled it tighter. Colleen struggled as she felt the stale oxygen got caught in her lungs. The burn was worst than she would have ever thought possible.

"Hey, stop! Leave her alone!"

"Don't man! Let the girl go!"

The shouts of the two CSI's did nothing to disrupt the ecstasy of the moment for Ken. He was totally in the moment. There was nothing other than the belt in his hands and the reddening face in front of his eyes. With a jerk backwards, the belt for even tighter. Her quivering lips were turning blue. Ken thought he would come right then and there.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Brass starred out across the parking lot. Grissom had called him and asked him to meet him in front of the lab. The man sounded urgent. It wasn't out of the way though. He had been following the tow truck with the Ford car in anyways. It would just be nice if Gil would be on time when he asked someone to meet him. The gum in his mouth had lost all of it flavor.

Footsteps coming from the door behind him announced the arrival of the caller. Grissom walked straight to Brass and didn't bother with any pleasantries.

"I can't get a hold of either Warrick or Nick. I want you to go with me to the crime scenes and see if can't figure out why neither of them feel it is important to answer their phones."

"You think something happened to them?"

"Right now, I am not ignoring anything. I want to know where they are right now. Are you going to come, Jim?"

"Yeah. I'll have to give those two fools a piece of my mind when we find them."

Grissom nodded and grinned tightly. He would feel better when he saw them with his own two eyes. Then he would yell at them.

TBC…oops…


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary: **A serial killer comes to town on the boy's night to work. Things don't go calmly for Nick or Warrick when the killer decided to not play nice.

**Disclaimer: **This is all written in fun and trial for something new. Everything CSI is not mine and never will be. It belongs to the creative talent of the actors, the writers, the directors, and producers. I am not making any money off of this. Only meant to offer something new on something already so great. No reason to sue.

**Author's Note: **Sorry to say, but this is the shortest chapter in the tale. But there are some answers and some interesting developments going on in it, so it shouldn't be too bad. And, sounding like a broken record, thank you for all the reviews, from old and new. I am glad that people are enjoying this twisted story I came up with after one sleepless night. Keep reading and I will keep posting. Seven more chapters to go! Have a great Labor Day and best wishes to those suffering from Katrina. See ya!

_**Breath for me**_

Written by: duffshel

**#10**

The still warm body slammed to the ground from the bed. Ken really didn't feel like sitting next to her anymore. She hadn't been his most interesting kill. Unlike many of the others, once she knew it was over, Colleen stopped struggling. But probably the most disappointing, so had his two new friends.

Both CSI's were sitting like little children whom had just been told Santa Claus was nothing, but a joke they had put full faith into. They were docile. Ken wanted them all fired up and ready to go.

"She was pretty wasn't she? The chick really knew how to use her tongue too. I gave her full marks for that."

Only Warrick took the bait and lifted his head to look at the sandy blonde man, "What is your deal? What did anyone ever do to you to make you like this?"

Ken studied the green eyes that were glaring back at him. There was a great deal of hatred in them, but also something curious. The man really wanted to know how this got to this point. Nick hadn't looked up from his shoes yet. Something was weak about him. Ken would learn it.

"It really wasn't anything. I met a girl in college, loved her, hated her, decided to kill her. It became a thrill. And I even came up with a pattern."

This peaked Nick's attention, but he didn't look up. He had no desire to look the man. The muffled screams of the girl still rang in his ears. He was willing to listen to anything that Ken said. It could be used later in court when they brought him down and arrested his ass.

"Would you like to hear it? I can tell you guys. I mean, it won't matter. Neither of you are going to make it out of here alive. And yes I know, it is a cliché, but I don't care. You won't"

Warrick continued to stare. The passiveness that still radiated off of Nick was getting on his nerves. The Texan was supposed to say something hot headed and get hit again for it. It happened in every Western that Grams ever made Warrick watch when he was a kid.

"I suppose even if I told you I never wanted to hear your voice again, you are going to attempt to talk us to death anyways."

Ken laughed, "I really think I am beginning to like you. The pattern is simple. I keep it within the family. Well, when it's a planned thing anyways. I never pass up a free-be though."

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Gil raked his hand through his hair as he starred into the open door of the Denali. There was no sign of heat from the hood. It had been sitting there for awhile. And there was also no sign of the driver and passenger.

Brass was stalking around the park looking for something that might lead to where they two men had disappeared to. Grissom could hear him barking off orders on his talkie, calling for back up and extra help. The trail stopped cold right here. They both could tell the guys had stopped here first and went no where else under their own power,

The park was completely deserted when they had pulled up next to the parked truck. The street lights were the only witnesses to whatever had happened in the still of the night.

"Hey Gil. I found something!"

Grissom looked up and glanced around to find the cop. The other man was standing up by the water fountain. His flashlight was pointed down, as were his eyes. The lead CSI wasted no time is walking over towards him.

"I found something from someone. Blood."

Sure enough, there was a section of grass covered in red, glistening blood under the bulb of the flashlight. Gil pulled out a pair of gloves and slipped them on. He reached back into the bag he had carried over with him and pulled out a cotton swab. Carefully, Grissom rubbed it across the blood to collect his sample.

Brass keep his flashlight steady, "You don't think it is one of the guys, do ya?"

"Well, if the killer came back, it could very well be."

"How do you know it is the serial? Could be random violence that unlucky Nicky got caught up in."

Gil pulled out his camera and focused the lens. The stain became clearer even with the limited light that was provided. There was an odd shape to the way it was imprinted in the grass.

"Just a feeling. It feels wrong here and those two do have the knack to find trouble anywhere."

Brass sighed. He was worried. Those two kids were like the sons he never had. Over the past few years of working with Nick and Warrick, he had learned a lot about them and taught them a lot back. He loved his daughter, but had always hoped for a son. Warrick was less open to the attention the cop gave him, but Nick was always open to affection. He was one of the few people allowed to call the boy Nicky.

The white flashes of the camera stopped and Grissom pulled himself to his feet. He scanned the entire area around the blood with his flashlight in tight circles. There was nothing else there other than indents in the grass. He flashed a couple more pictures of what looked like the scene of the grab. The guys had fought here in this spot.

"They fought, but it looks as if one was used against the other. The lab will be able to tell us which one of them was wounded enough to bleed on the grass.'

Even as Grissom spoke, his mind was running wild with what could have happened here. He stopped himself with an inward groan when his mind flashed with Nick being stabbed while Warrick was bleeding on the ground.

"When are you guys getting here, Jim?"

"Well, if you would stop thinking so much and listen, you would hear the troops coming a blazing."

Gil tried to hide his flushed face at the comment. His hearing had gotten worst, but he didn't think it was bad enough that he couldn't hear the sirens of the cop cars racing to the park. "I am going to need this entire park swept and documented."

"I will get that going for you. You just try to figure out what happened to our guys and get back to the lab when you need to.'

Grissom shook his head, "I am not going back to the lab until I know where they are. I shall have Sara process any evidence from here at the lab."

Without waiting for a response from Brass, Grissom walked towards the crime scene of the first victim. If he knew his guys, they would have started there. His hands suddenly felt wet and slimy within his gloves. He just hoped he wasn't missing anything. Grissom would never forgive himself if he did.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Catherine stood up and wiped the sweat from her brow with her arm sleeve. The large garage they were processing the car in didn't seem to have any air conditioning that day. It was hot.

The car was an interesting piece of evidence. It was the best lead they had gotten so far. The hair found in the back seat was a match to Heather Lewis. Sara hadn't found anything special with the white cloth. It was similar to the black one that Nick had been working one, just ordinary cloth used by major retailers all over the U.S.

Within the interior of the car, a few more hairs had been found. Greg was currently working on processing them to see if any of the matched the DNA found from under the girls' nails. There was no blood found anywhere in the vehicle.

But the best thing the car had to offer the CSI team was the rental form. It was filled out with a full name and address along with a photo copy of a driver's license. The car was loaned out to a Thomas Steeler from San Antonio, Texas. Catherine had Hodges checking out the databases to see if there was anything on file for the man.

Catherine was about to dive back into the car when her phone rang. She grabbed it quickly and flipped it open without looking to see who it was.

"Willows."

"Catherine, it's Gil. I need you to send Sara to the first scene of the case, the park. I have some stuff that she needs to gather and take back for processing. You and Greg keep doing what you have going and work on this when it comes in."

"I will as soon as I see her. Gil, we have a name to the car."

"Anything from it?"

"Nothing yet, but we are checking. Hopefully some sort of red flag will come up on the guy."

"We can only hope. I am going to stay with Jim and follow anything we get from out here. Keep in touch."

The head CSI hung up and Catherine was listening to air through her phone. She flipped it closed and looked back into the car. She had the backseat to tape yet. Catherine took a deep breath. It was still hot.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Ken drove past the park slowly. There were way too many cop cars. He had to say he was impressed with how the departments handled the situation. A car was stopped in front of him by the cop directing the traffic around the area. Ken braked and turned to take in the scenery.

There was that mean looking cop from before with Heidi and someone standing next to him. Squinting his eyes, Ken got a good look at the graying hair and serious frown covering the face. This had to be the Gil Grissom he wanted to see earlier.

"This is even better."

He couldn't have set this up any better even if he tried. The only problem, he wanted to dump Colleen's body at this sight. Two crimes committed here, one more shouldn't have been a problem.

The police officer was waving for his line of traffic to continue moving. Ken gave the car gas and moved forward slowly. His mind was racing. If the cops were here, where would they not be? This game was getting good and Ken really didn't want to stop. He knew he should, but it was just like crack.

Ken smirked at his reflection in the rear view mirror. There was something he could do to up the stakes and see what the great Grissom could do. He took the next left, hard. The flashing lights of the uniforms faded from behind him. His grin grew and grew as he got closer to his new drop site.

TBC…getting' good…


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary: **A serial killer comes to town on the boy's night to work. Things don't go calmly for Nick or Warrick when the killer decided to not play nice.

**Disclaimer: **This is all written in fun and trial for something new. Everything CSI is not mine and never will be. It belongs to the creative talent of the actors, the writers, the directors, and producers. I am not making any money off of this. Only meant to offer something new on something already so great. No reason to sue.

**Author's Note: **Hey all! New chapter time for ya all! This one should answer some of your questions about how safe our guys actually are. Also, I had gotten a review with a couple of questions and I hope I can clear them up (let me know!). With Brass thinking the blood in the park was Nick's, well, he knew they were there and it seems (to me anyways) that Nick is the unlucky one first so Brass just throws his name in. And for Ken keeping them in the car without the getting away, Nick is in the trunk and Warrick had his hands tied by Nick and was hit in the back of the head as he climbed in the back seat. The hotel isn't that far from the park so he wouldn't have time to wake yet (I have never been knocked out so I am taking a guess on that one). Hope that was enough. Thanks again for the time you take to review and read. I have started a new CSI story and hope to have it ready to go after this one. Hope it works as well as I feel this one has. Talk to ya all later!

_**Breath for me**_

Written by: duffshel

**#11**

Nick pulled at the cuffs again for what had to be the hundredth time. He was frustrated and impatient. And his throat was sore from all that damn useless yelling for help. The damn killer had been gone for at least twenty minutes and neither man was no where closer to getting their hands free. The metal table was welded to the floor too well.

"Just give it up Nicky. We are screwed."

The Texan glared up at Warrick. The black man had stopped trying to help pull of the table and was currently starring straight at Nick. What was making Nick more upset at the moment was that the other man seemed as calm as ever while he was trying his hardest to not freak out.

"Sorry if I am not so willing to give up as you are."

Warrick snapped back, "Oh whatever man. I just can see that it is pointless to waste any energy at trying to get this table out of the ground. We should be working on a plan for when the man frees us to move us around again.'

"And what makes you think that will be happening?"

"Just a hunch. He won't want to be on his knees to kill us."

Nick huffed and pulled again. He was caught off guard when Warrick reached up and seized his upper arm in his larger hands. His body was pulled off balance and he landed on his ass without any dignity.

"Are you trying to piss me off?"

"Relax bro. I just want to take a look at your arm. We finally have time and I want to see what the fuck that bullet really did to you."

"It doesn't hurt," Nick mumbled as he tried to remove his arm from the grip.

Warrick didn't even respond. He pulled the other man closer and downward so he could be able to move his hands under the restraint of the cuffs. The black cloth pulled up and away from the wound with a sticky sound. More blood began to escape once the "bandage" was removed. Warrick grimaced at the sight. It was definitely a flesh wound.

"Looks like the bullet went right in and out. Gonna have to pound a couple more bags to get the muscle back. The bleeding is mostly over."

"Yeah, I can feel it. Thanks a lot."

Nick pulled himself into a more comfortable position. It was sore, but he didn't want to make a fuss over it and have Warrick mothering him anymore than necessary. He appreciated the concern, but right now, he wanted help more.

"How long do you think he is going to be gone?"

"Not a clue."

"So what was the plan you wanted to make up, oh fearless leader?"

Glancing over at Nick, Warrick could see the other man staring at his shoes again, "Don't have one yet. And I am not the leader. We are partners, remember?"

Nick sighed deeply as he studied his left laces, "Yeah I remember. But you are one going on and on about forming some sort of plan to use against this asshole when he gets back."

"We need to be ready for whatever he throws at us. Who knows what kind of shit he has up his sleeves for us. As far as we know, we are the first men he has pulled this shit with. He even has a gun, but never used it before now."

"I know our deaths are at the end of his list."

"Whatever happened to the happy little Texan who always looked at everything with a positive point of view?"

"It got shot out of me for the night."

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

The car speed along the roads, sirens blaring into the night. Brass was using little caution as he whipped around other cars. He was going to do anything in his power to get back to the lab as fast as he could. From the way Gil was gripping his door handle, he had the same thoughts.

Catherine had just called them about four minutes ago. New body, new girl. It was the drop spot that was intriguing.

"Why in hell would this guy go and do something stupid like this?"

Grissom shook his head, "I have no idea. But I am thinking this is becoming a game for him and this is simply one of his moves. Ours will be next."

The car in front of the cop car refused to get over. Brass turned the wheel hard into the opposing lane once it was clear of cars. Grissom had been kind enough to get the plate numbers.

"But Gil, anyone could have seen him. There was too much risk."

"Risk leads to excitement. It adds to the thrill and power rush. If he can do this without getting caught, he adds to the thoughts of invincibility."

"And then heads off to take it out on our guys."

The lab was within their sights. Grissom could see Catherine, Sara, and Greg all gathered together outside looking at the same spot in the parking lot. Their killer had a lot of guts dropping his latest victim in the CSI lab parking lot.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Ken walked up to the hotel door, whistling a little tune he had learned from his mother. The drop had gone off without a hitch or a witness. But from the sudden eruption of sirens in the area, Colleen had been found soon enough.

The door opened with a jimmy and Ken stepped in quickly. He hadn't gagged the two CSI's and he didn't want them to attract any attention through the open door. Ken had scoped out the hotel before he had left and found only one other guest. The elderly man was in the very last room on the other side of the stretched out hotel.

"Well, that was fun."

Warrick and Nick looked up at the entrance. Ken looked way too happy. Both men felt rage course through their veins more now that the man was back.

"What did you do with the girl?'

Ken wasn't ready to talk with either of them yet. He needed a nice hot shower after the work out he had with Colleen. Not worrying about any opinions, Ken began removing his shirt and dropped it onto the bed. His bathroom supplies were in a brown bag lying on the floor by the night table. He reached down and grabbed it as he unzipped his jeans with his other hand.

Warrick adverted his eyes quickly once the he saw the jeans drop. The psycho didn't wear any underwear. It was nothing Warrick was interested in seeing. Hell, he avoided Nick for a week after he walked in on his partner in the shower after a case.

"Be right back. I want to smell nice for ya guys."

The bathroom door slammed shut. Nick could hear the man singing to himself. The water turned on and he could make out the sound of a body entering under the spray.

"I never understood how someone could go commando in jeans. I know my boys wouldn't be too happy with the arrangement."

"And if you ever were to go that way 'Rick, don't ever tell me."

"Deal. I wouldn't want you to check out my ass anyways."

"If I could find your scrawny ass, I am sure it nothing worth my time."

"Scrawny! I don't think so man. Many a women have been pleased with what I offer to them and I know for a fact that word was never used in their descriptions."

Nick chuckled, "You know man, we are pathetic. We are handcuffed to a table with a serial killer in the shower and we are arguing about your ass. I think we have hit a new low."

Warrick was about to respond, but the water stopped. They could hear the shower curtain as it was thrown to the side. Any fun they were offering themselves as a respite was now done. The killer would be coming out of the bathroom soon. They shared a meaningful look.

"Now remember Nicky, no matter what happens to me, don't do anything stupid."

"Same applies for you bro. If one of us can get away, one of us will. Remember what Grissom told us before we headed to that damn park, no heroes."

"Yeah, no heroes."

Warrick trailed off as the bathroom door opened and Ken walked out. He only had a towel and that was in his hands, drying off his hair. The guy was not ashamed of himself, that was for sure. The man walked over to the side of the bed Warrick couldn't see and reached down. There was some rustling sounds and the man stood with a pair of flannel pants in his hand. He slipped into them with ease.

"Well, Colleen is most likely with your friends now. I pretty much gave her to them. The park was loaded with cops so I had to change plans. Your Gil Grissom was there too."

"What are you talking about? Where did you leave her?" Nick questioned.

"I left her right on your front door. I pulled up to your precious lab, opened the door, and gave her a little push. I do believe she landed on her face."

Nick was shocked. The girl was left in front of the lab. Grissom was at the park. People knew the two men were missing and looking for them. And know they had a new body handed right to them.

"But that is the past. I am more interested in looking at our future together," Ken walked over towards his captives, "I am interested in what I can do with you two."

Ken reached over to the table that the TV stood one. He stood straight again with his gun in his hand. Warrick had never even seen him put it on that table. The gun had been that close to them the entire time. Ken raised it and pointed it at Warrick's head.

"Now, I am going to untie Nick here and lead him over to the bed. Anything happens, I will put a bullet in your gut. You understand Warrick?"

"Yeah. I got it."

With a smile, Ken walked over and pulled out the key he had placed in his new pant pocket. Nick cringed away slightly, but made no other movement. Once again, only one of his cuffs was released. He allowed Ken to pull him to his feet and shove him towards the bed.

"Sit."

Nick complied and sat on the edge. He stayed tense. The gun was still pointed at his partner, though Ken's eyes were on Nick.

"Lay down. Get comfortable."

The Texan hesitated. He really didn't want to lay down on this bed. Colleen had died here and maybe the other girl as well. He didn't want to make this his death place.

"Come now Nick. Lay down now!"

With a grunt, Nick was on his back. Ken walked over to the bed and took a hold of the double cuffs attached to his left wrist. He quickly removed one of the links. Ken placed the gun to Nick's temple.

"Don't move. I need to make a few adjustments."

Nick couldn't see what the man was up to, but Warrick could. Ken reached down to the front of the bed and attached the newly freed cuff to the bed frame. He placed Nick's free wrist back into the other cuff so his hands were locked together again. The cuff attached to the bed was locked over the chain of its companion. Nick was effectively handcuffed to the bed frame with his arms above his head.

The frame was not terribly strong, but it was strong enough to work. Nick may be able to break away if he really tried, but Ken was not worried about it. He had the upper hand.

"How much pain can you handle, Cowboy? My brother and I used to play a little game before he died. We would see what it took to get the other to scream. I was thinking, I could try it out on both of you. We could see which of the pair the better one is. I bet that is something you both would like to find out anyways. You are brothers after all."

Ken walked back over to where his bags were on the floor. He picked up the blue one this time and set it on the bed next to Nick's thigh. There were several clinking noises as it shifted that made Nick tense even more. The zipper was quickly opened and Ken pulled out what looked like a nail file. Nick's brow crinkled up into a frown.

Warrick had pushed himself up to his knees to see the best he could. The table stand spread out towards the top so he was only able to straighten out so much. He could see Nick was as tight as a bow sting though with whatever was going on.

"Now, I am going to gag you for this one. I don't want any scream to get too loud."

He used a strip of white cloth he ripped from the sheet. It effectively trapped Nick's tongue to the bottom of his mouth. Ken kneeled on the bed and with a groan, ended up straddling Nick's legs. He grinned down. If he was a gay man, he would have liked this position a lot. Even being straight, Ken had to admit, Nick felt good squirming around between his legs.

"Okay, I would breath out if I was you."

Nick barely had anytime to think before Ken sat up on his body and grabbed his hands. The nail file tip was quickly embedded underneath his index finger nail. Nick bucked up and shouted the best he could with the cheap cotton in his mouth.

TBC…ouch…


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary: **A serial killer comes to town on the boy's night to work. Things don't go calmly for Nick or Warrick when the killer decided to not play nice.

**Disclaimer: **This is all written in fun and trial for something new. Everything CSI is not mine and never will be. It belongs to the creative talent of the actors, the writers, the directors, and producers. I am not making any money off of this. Only meant to offer something new on something already so great. No reason to sue.

**Author's Note: **I think I found the secret to getting the most reviews out of people. Hurt the guys! Sadly though, neither of them is in this chapter! I know, yell at me if you will, but trust me, it will be worth it when it's over. You have no idea how happy I am that you all love the relationship I have tried so hard to capture with Nick and Warrick. As I am not a male, I was just going off what I have seen on the show and how my two guy best friends act. But anyways, enjoy this chapter even though it is mostly case work. I promise the guys will be back and they will not be happy about it. So, see everyone about…Sunday. Bye!

_**Breath for me**_

Written by: duffshel

**#12**

Greg couldn't seem to move fast enough to follow the orders that were barked at him by Grissom and Catherine. The girl's body had landed in an awkward position. People kept getting in his way as he tried to get as many angles for the photos as possible. They had a clear view of her face. Her eyes were open. And the pale skin was scratched up from where it hit the pavement.

The newest CSI had been as shocked as everyone else when one of the receptionists ran in the lab hallway, screaming about a body in the parking lot. He had been one of the first out the door and helped to keep people away. Robbins was outside almost right after him and took over with determining if she was really dead or not. She was, but not for a long time. Her skin was still warm to the touch.

"Greg, there are tire tracks over here. Get some pictures of them as well. And don't forget to marker them this time."

He jumped and looked to where Grissom was pointing. The head CSI had come flying to the scene in Brass' car. Both men had jumped out of the car and immediately took control. No one had questioned them. But everyone wanted to. The two had found something at the park.

Seeing that Greg was not going to move soon enough, Sara went up and took him by the arm. Never before had the CSI level 1 dealt with something like this, something this fast. There were still evidence of the killer left on her cooling body. They had to work fast.

"Just try to stay out of the way Greg. Don't do anything unless Grissom tells you to. They are going to get whatever they can."

Hodges ran out the entrance doors. He was hauling the emergency gas chamber kit. They had done this before on a case. The plastic unit was going to be constructed around the body and they were going to see if they could lift any prints from her skin.

Doc Robbins moaned as he pushed himself to his feet with his cane. He was really getting to old for the field aspect of being a coroner. But David wasn't back yet from a case across town that he was working with the day shift.

"Liver temperature is 97.2. She was killed within the hour."

Catherine and Grissom immediately began constructing the plastic tent. Hodges had disappeared back into the lab. No one heard what was yelled at him, but obviously the man himself understood it.

"I need everyone to stay back and watch where you walk. This scene is fresh. I want yellow tape tied up over the entire drive of this parking lot," Brass was instructing his officers on the case.

Almost at the same time the tent was up, Hodges once again threw open the glass doors. He tried his hardest not to stumble. Grissom would have his head if he stalled the process by dropping the black florescent dusting powder. He handed it off to his supervisor with the grace one would use to handle religious artifacts.

Catherine had the blower all set up and ready. She carefully dumped small amounts of the powder in as it was blasted within the plastic. Greg didn't know what to do with himself. He ended up taking some pictures of the process before he really knew what he was doing.

Sara smiled at the younger man. It was refreshing to have someone new on the team. She once again grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side. He walked heavily besides her, his eyes never leaving Catherine or Gil.

"Come on Greg. You need to get some pictures of the treads over here. It is important. You will learn all of this soon, but not tonight."

He nodded blankly at her, but did as he was told. A cop pointed him to the tracks and he places a yellow marker by it first. The white light flashed through the area.

The black powder covered the entire area of the tent. Once it looked to be settled, Catherine stopped adding the powder and turned off the blower. Grissom was already tearing open the casing. She reached behind her to her bag and pulled out her orange goggles. Once they were on her face, she pulled out her light. Grissom was doing the same thing.

"I will start from her feet Catherine. Meet you in the middle."

"Will do."

The air around the dead girl was thick. Everyone was holding their breath as they watched the experienced CSI's search her flesh for any signs of the killer. It was clear to all that she was strangled like the others. The only difference with this girl was that the front of her head was smashed in. It must have happened when she was shoved from the car. She was dead so there was still no blood.

Sara didn't know what to do with herself either. She had helped Greg along on his task, but there was nothing for her to do. With a sigh, she looked around the area. Several more cars had entered the parking lot. They had to be from the group that went to the first crime scene, the park. Sara spotted Brass and walked over to him.

"Hey Brass. Before this all happened, I was told there was some blood to work with from the park. Where is it?"

Jim turned and took a good look at the girl as she approached him. He knew she was itching to do something other than sit and stare. "The stuff is in my car. Gil just threw his entire kit in the backseat at the call. I don't think he separated it from anything."

The female CSI nodded her head and went in search of the car. She could hear Catherine yelling something to Grissom, but was too far away now to actually be able to see what was going on. Sara kept walking towards the squad car that Brass drove.

"Gil, I have partial here, on her cheek."

"Get a picture, then lift it."

Catherine turned on her heels to look behind her, "Greg! I need you here now!"

The young man ran over as soon as he heard his name called. He listened intently to what Catherine was saying and got in for the photo. Greg could feel his stomach jump at having to get this close to the girl. He would swear later he could feel heat still rising off her skin.

"Got it."

Catherine promptly moved him out of her way again and got back to work. She carefully taped the print and lifted it from the girl's face. This had to be Colleen Elich, the girl that was missing along with Heidi. But Catherine didn't dwell on that thought right now, she had to look for more prints. Neither she nor Gil found anything else on her skin.

"Alright. Let's get her inside. Doc, I want you to have her clothes sent to Greg for analysis. Catherine, I need you to stay out here and process the scene. I need to talk with Brass for a minute."

The two other CSI's took their instructions and assisted Robbins on getting the girl onto the gurney and into the lab. Grissom turned to look for where Brass had disappeared to. The other man was standing over by his car.

"Brass, I am going to look over the surveillance tapes from the cameras over the lot. I need you ready to run with anything I can get."

"Okay. I will also keep the area clear so Catherine can get what she needs."

Grissom nodded slowly. He was missing something, "Where did Sara run off to?"

"She came over and asked for the evidence from the park. I told her it was in your kit in the car. She took it all and headed into the lab."

"Good. I was going to have her start that anyways. Keep your phone clear. I will call you when I have something. Then you and I are going to find our guys."

Grissom walked away quickly. He needed to find Archie. There were three cameras that faced out over the parking lot in front of the lab. One of them had to have something from the killer's car. Archie would be able to get anything from those tapes.

He passes Catherine as she began to study the area the body had been laying in. She didn't acknowledge him in any way. The glass doors were already being held open for them. Grissom walked quickly towards Archie's lab.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Sara got her test plate ready with the blood sample. It hadn't been too hard to find the swab in the messy kit. Grissom had thrown everything fresh right on the top then closed the lid. The blood rubbed onto the glass plate easily. She capped it off with the small square glass cover. The blood spread out under the pressure.

With the remaining sample on the swab, she placed the cotton end in a test tube filled with a clear liquid. It was dissolve the blood off and allow her to run it for DNA samples. She looked at her watch and counted off the mandatory minute before she pulled out the swab to set it carefully into another empty test tube. They couldn't afford to waste anything at this point.

She reached across the table and picked up a glass pipette. The liquid flowed up into the glass tube and Sara quickly transferred it to another, small test tube. This one would be placed in the centrifuge to separate the DNA stands from the dissolving liquid. The spinner made a small humming noise once it began to run.

Sara turned back to her microscope and placed the plate over the light source. She adjusted the controls and zoomed in close. The blood was clean. There was nothing foreign in the sample and it looked to be fresh. All the blood cells still had their round forms which indicated that they were not dehydrated as they would have been if they were older.

The centrifuge dinged and slowed. Sara watched it until its spinning completely stopped. Once it opened up, she grabbed her test tube and inserted it into the DNA reader. After tapping a couple keys on the keyboard, the machine started. In a minute, she would have a name to go with the sample if they were in the CODIS.

Sara watched her watch with even less patience this time. She wanted to know who it was that bleed on the grass. The printer startled her when it shot out a sheet of paper at her. The young woman almost dropped the paper in her excitement. Her jaw did drop though.

Her phone felt heavy as she flipped it open and turned on her speaker phone. It rang twice.

"Grissom."

"Grissom, its Sara. I ran the blood. It belongs to Nick."

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Archie was playing the tapes of the cameras outside the lab. Grissom really wasn't watching at that moment. He had gotten his camera back from Greg and was downloading the images from the media card into his laptop. When Sara called and told him the news, he really hadn't been too shocked at the news. But now he wanted to look at the picture of the spot again.

Several images were taking longer than others due to the amount of detail that had been captured. The ones from the park were towards the beginning of the card and were all ready to look at. Gil clicked on the different ones of the grass with the blood. The images were not large enough.

Grissom looked around at the table he was using. There were several cables laying in ready, but he needed the orange one. Once the USB plug was hooked in, Gil transferred the four images to the larger flat television screen to the right of the one Archie was using.

The video technician stopped his work to see what popped up on the other screen, "What is that?"

"These are the photos I took from the park where I found the blood. Sara just called and confirmed that it's Nick's."

Archie didn't make another comment. He wanted to get the guy's face even more now that he knew his buddies were caught in the mad man's web. All four cameras had different angles and one was set at wide lens. There was little overlap between the two of them, but for the amount not taped, a car wouldn't find there. He looked at the timer in the corner of the screen. Four more minutes to go through and he would be to when the girl was dumped on their doorstep.

The blood stain had a pattern now that Grissom had blow it up and adjusted the color balance and contrast to make up for the poor lighting at the scene. He reached his hand up and laid it on the image. It was a hand print. Nick had been leaning forward. The blood was from his arm. Gil left out the breath he didn't know he was holding. The wound was non-fatal.

"Hey boss, I found something!"

The tape was paused on a dark car with two passengers. Grissom waved Archie on and the man hit play again. They both watched as the car slowed down and the driver reached over the passenger. The door opened and a body fell out. The car actually stopped for a minute, then it sped off. Moments later, a woman began to scream and point from the doorway.

"Can you get the plates off it?"

"Already working on it."

Hodges used that moment to burst into the video lab. His hand was shaking the papers he clutched tightly, "Boss, I got some information on the guy."

"Leave it on the table. I will look at it in a moment."

Hodges nodded and left the room in a hurry. He did watch Archie at work through the glass as he jogged past. Archie used the mouse to pin point the back of the car. Camera three had the entire back of the car in its sights. Using some of the software hooked up to his equipment, Archie was able to bring the image into focus and blow up the plate number. He split the screen and also blew up the make and model.

"We have a Ford Taurus, Las Vegas plates, 881-VRK. Color seems to be dark blue."

"Alright. I will get the information out to Brass. My bet is that it is another rental."

Grissom walked out of the lab already on his phone. Brass took the information and would get it over the scanner. After hanging up, Gil was going to head to his office, but stopped at the sight of Sara sitting in the DNA lab with her face in her hands. He quickly walked into the room.

"Sara? Are you okay?"

She raised her head to show her puffy eyes and red nose, "Why does it always happen? Something always goes wrong for someone here in the lab!"

The head CSI moved behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders. He could feel the slight tremor running through her body.

"We will find them. We have the car. It is only a matter of time."

"But what if we are already out of time? What if he killed them already?"

Grissom starred down at the top of her head, "If he killed them already, I think we would already know."

"What?" Sara whipped around to look her boss in the eyes.

"He seems like the type to show off. He would have given us their bodies already," Grissom lifted the papers he held in his hand.

"What are those?"

"They're the background papers that Hodges managed to pull up. They will give us some more information about this guy so we might be able to find him easier."

"Oh, okay."

More tears began to run down Sara's face. The two stayed there in silence. Greg's arrival to the room didn't get them to move at all. The young CSI walked slowly into the room. The air was thick. It made his heart hurt even more.

"I have talked to Catherine. We found nothing outside to lead to the killer other than the tire treads. Robbins just sent me the clothes. I will get to work on them right away."

"Thanks Greg. We have the plates from the car."

Greg smiled sadly. His two best friends were still missing, plates or not. He turned and walked out in silence. He didn't want his boss to see him cry.

TBC...


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary: **A serial killer comes to town on the boy's night to work. Things don't go calmly for Nick or Warrick when the killer decided to not play nice.

**Disclaimer: **This is all written in fun and trial for something new. Everything CSI is not mine and never will be. It belongs to the creative talent of the actors, the writers, the directors, and producers. I am not making any money off of this. Only meant to offer something new on something already so great. No reason to sue.

**Author's Note: **Well, I have found the way to make readers mad and disappointed, don't put the guys in a chapter. I promise, in the whole story, it was necessary. But I am here to make it up to all of you with an entire chapter of the guys and my favorite, Ken! Though, if I was into naming chapters and all, I would have called this _Warrick's turn and Nick does something stupid/brave_. Enough hints for ya! Enjoy and as always, thanks for letting me know how you feel about this and how it is going. Only four more chapters to go!

_**Breath for me**_

Written by: duffshel

**#13**

Breathing was suddenly much harder than Nick had ever remembered. The air made it into his lungs, but from there, nothing really happened. The pain in his hands never diminished. He could also sense the steady heat radiating off the other man from where he sat pressed up against Nick's torso.

"I must say, you are going to need a manicure after this one, Cowboy."

Warrick had given up yelling at the man to leave Nick alone. It was as if he had taken Nicky with him into a different world to rip up his fingers for those agonizing minutes that had ticked away. He could see the blood as it spread across pale flesh and white sheets. His own hands tingled with sympathy pains.

"Nicky? Nick, say something man!"

Laughing and standing, Ken turned to face the very pissed off black man kneeling on the floor, "Let the poor man rest for a minute. He needs a chance to relax and collect himself. The longest it ever took my brother was twenty minutes."

Ken looked down at his hands in disgust. Damn blood was such a pain. He really wished humans could be made without the crap. But deep down, he knew he liked it. Something about it was romantic to the man. It was an odd feeling. He always loved to see his brother, other men, bleed. It was a sickness that he embraced with open arms.

"Now, don't miss me while I am gone. Need to wash this off before it hardens."

Warrick only paid attention to Ken long enough to watch him walk into the bathroom and shut the door. Then, Nick was his main interest.

"Nick, I really need you to say something to me. Just one word is all I need."

Nick swallowed thickly and forced his tongue to move, "That hurt,"

It was slurred, but Warrick got the idea. He felt a little better now. The toilet flushed in the other room and water began to flow into the sink.

"Are you going to be alright? Can you do this?"

The other man's voice sounded off to Nick. He had heard Warrick concerned before, but this was a new tone. It was one that Nick really couldn't put words to. It was scary to hear.

"Yeah, I will be fine. Just going to need…a little help."

"You will get it. I will do anything you need me to, bro."

Ken walked out of the bathroom and smiled down at the two men. From the looks on their faces, he figured they had just had a bonding moment. It was touching, but just so god damn revolting at the same time. The bleeding from Nick's fingernails had slowed and it looked like it would be stopping soon on its own. Ken really didn't want him to bleed to death. He just wanted to inflict pain that he knew from first hand experience sucked.

"So, what should we do now? It really didn't take too long for Nick to give me the satisfaction of his screams. Do you think you could last longer, Warrick?"

He didn't wait for a response as he reached once again for his bag. There were all sorts of fun toys in it. Ken released a deep breath as his lips twisted up in thought. Nick hadn't been too difficult to make scream, but he was sure that Warrick would not be as easy. Something about the man just yelled stubborn and difficult. He pulled out the shiny pocket knife.

"Yep, I think I will try this out on you. I feel kind of in an artistic mood anyways."

Nick could see what Ken had grabbed first. His eyes went wide and he bucked against the cuffs still on his wrists. A knife in the guy's hands couldn't be a good thing. The only thing that was still lurking in the back of Nick's mind at the moment was how the man could be so interested in making him and Warrick bleed when none of the girl's had a drop on them.

When Warrick finally saw the knife, he couldn't stay quiet, "What the fuck do you think you are going to be able to do with that thing? Huh? Are you going to cut me into little pieces?"

"That was never anything that my bother and I tried, so no. I was simply going to try my hand on drawing on you skin. I have never cut into black skin before. Not trying to be racist, just a fact my friend."

"Well, I am still going to say fuck you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way. Now, do you want to be gagged like your…_brother_ or are you going to be a man and take it?"

Warrick didn't respond. He merely glared at the man as he walked over to where Warrick was still kneeling. Ken smiled down at him and directed Warrick's attention to his face. The CSI was not prepared for the foot that connected with the side of his chest. It knocked him backwards, throwing his legs forward. Ken quickly sat himself down on top of them so the black man wouldn't be able to move them.

"Now, don't move too much. It might slip and go too deep."

The knife flipped out of its sheath with a flip of Ken's wrist. The blade was long and curved. There was crusted blood still clinging to the steel. Ken reached down and grabbed the edge of Warrick's shirt. The CSI tried to twist away, but with little luck. Ken placed the blade to the quivering flesh.

He leaned forward so his lips rested on the curved cartilage of Warrick's ear, "Now take a deep breath."

The knife sliced cleanly. Warrick gasped at the first cut. He had been cut by a knife before, but it was always easy to forget the feel of it beginning to slice through skin cells. The line was long, but not very deep. Blood only bubbled up, it didn't flow. The copper smell hit his nose strongly.

Ken sat back so his full weight was on the legs stretched underneath him. The other man's knees were digging slightly into his ass, but he paid it little mind. The first cut had been slightly crooked, he would have to try again. He started closer to the pant line this time.

Warrick tried to keep from gasping, but each time the knife started over, one escaped without his permission. The only control he had was keeping the cries in. He could hear Nick struggling on the bed to free himself. Warrick wanted Nick to stay where he was, it was safer at the moment.

But that was not the same idea that Nick was having at that moment. The bed was groaning under his movements and the frame was shaking. He knew enough about cheap hotels to know they used cheap frames that slipped together on each side with only about an inch of support. With enough movement, he might be able to make the pieces come apart.

"Come Warrick, I know you want to make some noise. No one here will hold it against you."

Warrick bucked his legs, but only managed to lift his knees a little. Under the other man's weight, the blood flow had been cut off and forced his limbs to fall asleep. They didn't obey his orders. His stomach felt like it was on fire though. He couldn't tell where the knife had touched and were it had not.

"Fuck you!"

"No, thank you. I have never been interested in cock unless it was mine. Though I would have to say, if I was gay, I would fuck your little friend on the bed into the next world and beyond," Ken leaned closer so his face was inches from Warrick's, "And I would make him love it."

Ken pulled himself back and looked at his handy work, "You are doing much better than my brother ever did. He cried immediately."

"You seem fascinated by this brother you keep talking about. Did you kill him too?"

Warrick's head snapped backwards when Ken's fist slammed into his right cheek. The guy did have a good punch. It would leave a bruise that might be darker than the one Nick would wear. Speaking of his partner, he could hear the bed was groaning in protest. Nick was going to get into trouble again.

"I didn't kill him! He killed himself, the fool. The blood was like nothing I had ever seen before and would never force myself to do with my own hands. That's why I took to the belt. Well, with women anyways. They seem to bleed much more than a man does. And it sticks more to things. I think it is a way for women to nag even in death."

"You are insane, you know that, right?"

Ken smiled and lowered the knife again, this time higher. He didn't hear Nick shifting the bed under his weight behind him. Nick knew he was getting farther with the frame because he could feel his body dip more as the frame came apart. He only wished he knew how much farther he had to go. With one great throw, his body went hard to the left taking the mattress with it. The frame came apart.

Nick didn't have to worry about containing his gasp as the gag did it for him. The floppy mattress hung down, not completely touching the floor since the one end was still on its track. He pushed himself towards the head with his feet. The angle hurt, but he managed to get his hands back and to the side. The chains on the cuffs jingled lose.

"I wonder, does it hurt to slice open a nipple? The piercing always look like they hurt," Ken was moving his knife closer to Warrick' naked chest. The t-shirt was bundled up around his neck.

Warrick concentrated only on his breathing. It was getting painful and he knew he wouldn't be able to keep in his cries for long. His eyes were focused on the floor just to the left of his foot. It helped to keep his mind clear and focused. It also allowed him to catch Nick getting to his feet.

Nick pushed himself to stand and moved up behind Ken. He pulled the gag from his mouth and smiled. The killer was so intent on his work with cutting up his partner that he heard nothing of Nick coming up behind him. Without thinking, Nick lowered the chain from his cuffs around the man's neck.

"What…" Ken managed before his throat was crushed between the links. His left hand flew up to his neck as he pulled his body forward.

The Texan pulled his arms backwards with all the strength he could muster. It hurt his wrists and he knew there would be terrible marks, but he didn't let up. Nick let out a shout of victory as he pulled harder.

"Nick, watch out!" Warrick tried to give a warning, but knew he would be too late as he looked into Ken's eyes right in front of his own.

The knife swung backwards and Ken twisted his arm the best he could. It stopped when it impacted with the flesh of Nick's thigh. Nick cried out and inadvertently loosened the chain. Ken was able to get his hand underneath it and pulled forward. It was enough to pull Nick off balance.

"Oh, you're going to die now!"

Ken got free from Nick and turned to glare at the man as he attempted to crawl backwards. The knife was buried to the hilt in the man's leg and jiggled with each movement. Warrick put his entire body into his movements and was able to reach Ken with his leg. It forced Ken to fall over and move to the left.

"Nick! Run, get the fuck out of here!"

Nick was on his feet, but not for long. The pain in his thigh was harsh and he lost his footing. He went down to his knees about ten feet from the door. Ken was on top of him that instance. He wrapped his hands around Nick's shoulders and pulled the man up against his chest.

"You are going to pay now, Cowboy."

The knife ripped out of his thigh with a rush of blood. Nick screamed out as his flesh was manipulated under the blade again. It was cut short when he felt it being held to his neck. The blade dug in just enough to cause a small cut to form and bleed.

"Back on the bed. Don't do anything stupid."

Warrick couldn't get the table to move. His wrists were beginning to bleed from all the tugging he was doing. The pain in his body was experiencing was nothing. His brother had a knife to his throat.

Nick forever seemed to be on his knees while being told to stand. It was getting old quickly. He pushed himself up trying to ignore the pain in his leg and turned carefully to face Ken. The knife dragged across his skin at the movement. Ken's face was red with fury when he finally looked at him. Nick didn't have any time to react when the knife was slashed across his face.

Ken watched in satisfaction as the blood welled up and poured from the new wound on Nick's face. The cut ran from his left eye down to his chin. It was straighter than anything on Warrick's chest. But his victory was cut short. Nick took advantage of his distraction.

The elbow was hard in Ken's ribs. His body fell forward while both his hands loosened their grips. The knife slipped from his hand. Nick stood and threw his fisted hands at Ken's face. It was enough to force Ken to take another step away from the CSI. When Ken tried to stand straight, Nick slammed his hands into his exposed stomach this time. Ken fell forward.

"Warrick!"

Warrick looked hard at the scene at front of him. At his name being called out, he watched as Nick jumped forward and grabbed Ken by the pants. One of his hands disappeared down a pocket. Warrick was going to question what his partner had in mind, but was stopped short when he saw Nick pull out the cuff keys.

"Catch man!"

The tiny, silver keys flew through the air, turning over themselves. They landed about a foot away from his left knee. Quickly, he moved his leg out from under him and pushed at them with the heel of his foot. The keys were moving, but not quickly enough for his taste. He could still hear Nick pounding on Ken trying to keep the other man from getting back to his feet.

"Aha!" Warrick shouted out to no one in particular. He had the keys. It was an awkward angle, but he managed to get the key into the lock. He used his teeth to turn it and smiled in pure satisfaction when the cuff popped open. Warrick wasted no time getting his arms loose and standing on his shaky legs.

"Nick! Get out of here!"

Nick stopped hitting the down man in front of him and looked up to see his partner free and on his feet. He didn't resist when Warrick grabbed his arm and pulled him away from Ken towards the door. The strong hands of his friend reassured him and he felt a wash of hope flow over him. It was only a few more steps from the door.

"I don't think so!"

Nick looked over his shoulder as he took his next step to see Ken on his feet, gun back in his hands. The two CSI's had forgotten about the damn gun. Ken didn't say anything more as two bullets flew from the barrel. Nick had no time to react as he felt a fire rip through his hip.

Warrick heard the gun go off, but was not going to stop moving if he didn't have to. The bullet that ripped into his lower leg said otherwise. He went down hard and felt Nick fall down next to him. Ken stomped up behind them.

"You two have to be complete idiots. I am sick of these games. You two are going to die now. Say your prayers and say good bye. It will be no time before you are worm food."

Ken walked over and pulled Warrick up by his hair first. The taller CSI had no choice, but to comply. His fibula was damaged from the impact from the bullet. Blood was filling up his sock and shoe. He tried to gain his footing, but the grip on his hair kept him from standing completely. His body was dragged back over to the table.

"You are going to sit and watch. I will get to you second."

Warrick laid his head on his arms once they were locked once again. His eyes were glued on Ken as he stomped back towards Nick. The Texan was on his side. A large red puddle was forming under his heaving body.

TBC…you wanted only the guys…


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary: **A serial killer comes to town on the boy's night to work. Things don't go calmly for Nick or Warrick when the killer decided to not play nice.

**Disclaimer: **This is all written in fun and trial for something new. Everything CSI is not mine and never will be. It belongs to the creative talent of the actors, the writers, the directors, and producers. I am not making any money off of this. Only meant to offer something new on something already so great. No reason to sue.

**Author's Note: **Sorry this took so long to get up. I wanted to post it yesterday, but life doesn't seem to like me so much right now. But at least I don't have the problems our guys are having! I hope you all enjoy this chapter and it lives up to the others. Don't have a lot of time so I am going to stop yaking and let ya all get to the reading. Until next time! Bye!

_**Breath for me**_

Written by: duffshel

**#14**

"Gil, the rental was loaned out to the same guy, Thomas Steeler."

Grissom nodded his head at his phone even though he knew Catherine wouldn't be able to see him, "I will tell Brass and keep you updated as we go. Thank, Catherine."

He hung up his phone and turned in his seat to face Brass. The cop was once again driving with little abandon as he speed down the asphalt. There had been a few sightings around town about cars with the description they had, but no one had found the matching plates. It was a race against time.

"The same guy rented the new car. Thomas Steeler."

Brass nodded his head and grabbed for the hand set of his radio, "I need an APB put out for one Thomas Steeler, S-T-E-E-L-E-R. Search all hotel registries and close down the airlines for this guy. Do not let him leave the city."

Jim returned the hand set and turned to face Grissom, "Do you think we will be able to find him?"

"He was dumb enough to use his credit card to pay for his rentals, I would bet on it that he would pay for his hotel rooms the same. The files pulled on him were interesting and had some red flags. It seems that his brother was killed when Thomas was seventeen, but he was found clear of any involvement. He went off to college after that, but disappeared once his girlfriend was found dead. Her family seems to have bad luck when it comes to murder since most of the girls are connected to her in some way."

"How did his brother die?"

"It went down at a suicide, slashed his wrists. The file said that Thomas' mother wanted him to be put in permanent therapy since Thomas suddenly took a liking to male blood after that event."

"How did they clear him if he was so into blood?"

"The parents said the boys liked to play rough and often caused damage to each other, but didn't do anything fatal to the other. Thomas went to trial and said he never wanted to see his brother bleed so much. I guess between his sob story to the jury and the lack of evidence, he was cleared and it was said to be suicide."

The cop nodded his head and swerved around a truck that was taking its sweet time in front of him. There was no place in particular to head towards, but Gil wanted to be on the move so when something was found, it would be easier to get moving. Brass didn't mind the idea at all himself.

"But wouldn't someone have said something about that when they found his girlfriend dead?"

Grissom looked down at his phone, "There was no blood play with her, she was strangled. And some of Thomas' fraternity brothers swore as his alibis. Then, he was gone. And he never had met any of her family members so there was no connection that way. I guess the system just wasn't able to put it all together."

Jim nodded grimly, "I just hope we find something soon. This guy doesn't seem like the type to screw around and hold hostages too long. Nicky and Warrick must be up to their eyeballs with shit by now."

Grissom wanted to respond, but his phone went off, demanding his attention, "Grissom."

"Hey, its Catherine. I just got some new things up on our guy. The guy doesn't own a home or a car. Seems to be on the move, no one has a link to him. No one has been able to connect him to the murder of his old girlfriend since it seems to have been his first with strangulation. But with all the new evidence, we should be able to do it finally."

"Does anyone know where he was last?"

"I checked the files and all the places one of the dead girl's showed up, Steeler rented a car in the each of the same cities during the same times."

"Good work. It seems we have our man. Now we just need to find him and get our guys back in one piece."

Catherine sighed over the phone, "We are having no luck on our side. Hopefully one of our guy's in uniform will have better luck than us."

Both hung up without any pleasantries. There was no point at that moment. They both knew there was a lot of work ahead and they needed to find Nick and Warrick. Jim had heard pieces of the conversation, but chose not to comment on any of it.

The radio continued to crackle and sputter, but no voices jumped out of it with good news. Brass twisted the steering wheel in his hands as he raced into the passing lane. They were getting farther out from the Strip and the busy traffic. He was about to offer a new direction to Gil, when the radio went to life.

"I have a Ford parked in front of the Sleepy Inn. The plates match, but I don't have a room yet. Should I proceed?" a young voice stated.

Brass almost dropped the hand set in his eagerness to grab the damn thing, "No, no. Wait for back-up. Do not proceed to the room alone. What is you location?"

"The 1500 block of Winchester. It's across from the Burger King."

Quickly Brass figured his location to the sight. He was currently cruising south on Eastern Ave. They were heading in the right direction and were not far away.

"I am on my way. I will be on the scene in less than ten minutes. Hold you position and check to make sure they guy is in the hotel by phone. Do not leave your vehicle!"

Brass didn't even bother hanging up the set this time. He threw it on the floor and cursed the station wagon in front of him. It was one moment he wished someone would break a law and go over the speed limit. Gil thought the same thing as he moved to sit farther up in his seat. They were close.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Nick groaned as he was thrown back down onto the bed which shook under the new stress. His whole body ached and he had nothing left in him to fight the man. The bones that once composed a solid hip bone were now grinding against each other. He had been beat up before, but never had he been shot twice and stabbed in the thigh. It was utter torture.

Ken had a strange gleam in his eye as he stared down at his prey. He had enough of these two. They had been entertaining, but then they went and did stupid things. Their lives might have been longer if Nick didn't break loose from the bed. Now, he had a date with a belt.

"I don't know what you were thinking. You are not going to be able to save each other. There is no chance. You are both going to die now."

He reached over the side of the bed and grabbed his belt. The leather once again felt heavy in his hand. It was a relaxing feeling. Ken would never get sick of it.

"This will not be as painful as you think. Just don't struggle."

Warrick pulled on the table stand again even though he knew it was useless. His leg was numb and his pants were soaked with his blood. The crimson stain was seeping onto the carpet steadily. He ignored the fuzz that seemed to be covering his brain.

"Nick? Don't do this! Please leave him alone."

"Are you begging now, Warrick? You are beginning sound like all those girls I help out of this world. Don't worry, you will be next. But I want you to watch first."

He bent closer to the Texan as he straddled his hips. The bed protested again with a moan and the mattress sunk even more. Nick was breathing heavily and his eyes were glazed. There would be no fighting from this one. It was be nice and simple. Ken felt a little disappointment at the prospect, but was excited all the same. He guessed it wasn't necessary for it to be a female.

"Now, smile for me Nick. Don't want to die with a frown," the belt was looped swiftly.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Grissom was on his phone again, this time with Sara. He wanted everyone filled in and he knew Catherine wouldn't want to drive alone to the scene. He made sure to tell Sara to get Greg to come as well. Once he hung up the phone, he grabbed the sides of his head with his hands.

"How much farther Jim?"

"We will be on the scene in three minutes. I will be able to go through the two lights that will be in our way, but I can't say how easy it will be to get onto Winchester. That intersection is a real bitch."

"Just drive. I have a bad feeling. We need to get there now."

Brass nodded and slammed harder down on the gas. The car groaned in protest before the tires grabbed the pavement and took off.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Sara ran down the hallway at full speed. Her sneakers squeaked on the panels of the floor. She was searching for Greg and Catherine. The former lab tech. was walking out of his old DNA lab as Sara almost ran right past.

"Greg! They found the killer! He is at the Sleepy Inn across town. Grissom and Brass are almost on the scene. They believe they found Nick and Warrick with him."

Greg immediately perked up with the news and took off running after Sara. His eyes were still sore from all the repressed tears, but now he couldn't help the large smile on his face. The guys were almost back in the hands of the good guys.

"Sara? Where are we going?"

"We have to meet Catherine. We are going to go with her to the scene. I talked to her already. She is waiting for us in the parking lot."

"Are they sure they found them?"

"We don't know if they are there, but it is where Steeler's car is sitting. And I guess there is a record of a room being taken out in his name. He has to be there. And the guys will be as well."

"I sure hope you are right."

The two CSI's ran out the glass doors, not caring if they would cause any damage to them. Catherine was waiting at the curb, her SUV running and ready. Sara jumped in the passenger seat while Greg got in the back. Their door was barely closed when Catherine took off.

"We will get there in seventeen minutes with traffic. I am putting on the lights so we won't be stopped by the lights."

Sara and Greg didn't say anything. None of them knew what to say. The tension was high and they were all excited with the prospect of this finally being over. The car screamed with the hard turn, but it stayed straight and took off once again.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

The belt felt warm against his skin as Ken lowered it down onto Nick's neck. Nick thought he would panic and be able to fight this man off, but his body wanted nothing more that to lay there and do nothing. His eyes were seeing stars.

"Nick, fight him! Do something!"

Warrick thought he was going to pull his arms from the sockets, but he couldn't get free. He couldn't help his friend, his brother. His heart felt like it was shattering and he couldn't stop the tears from running down his face. Never before had he cried like this before.

"Please Nick! I can't lose you!"

Ken smiled at the weak voice of the black man. It did nothing to make the Texan under him move any. The belt was getting tighter. The man's breathing was getting harsh. Ken was going to play this out. He was going to tease.

"This is better than I thought it would be. I may get more of a kick out of this than I thought ever possible."

The leather creaked under the strain as it tightened even more. Nick felt his throat constrict and couldn't seem to pull in air anymore. It was painful, but he couldn't get his arms to move much. They simply lifted from the sheets, leaving blood stains where ever his finger tips touched. He managed to move his lower body a little, but the side to side movement of his back and pain-filled hips did little to dislodge the man. The stars in his eyes were getting brighter and more frequent.

Ken leaned forward as he pulled as tight as he could. The struggles of the other man in the room drifted from his hearing. All he saw and heard now where the struggles of the writhing man underneath him. He was going to get off on this one. It was exhilarating. He pulled forward with his arms, pulling Nick by the belt into more of an upright position.

His lips brushed against Nick's. The blue color was the same as all the girls, but the taste and smell was different. He repeated the action, but with wider lips and longer connection. Nick's eyes widened a little with this, but they also got dimmer. Ken leaned even more forward, this time letting his lips brush Nick's outer ear.

"Come now Nicky. Breath for me!"

It was nothing more than a husky whisper, but to Nick, it was a knife to his heart. The room went dark with the man whispering cruel things in his ears. He couldn't hear his brother crying for him anymore. He couldn't feel himself crying either.

"Breath for me!"

TBC….so that's the title….


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary: **A serial killer comes to town on the boy's night to work. Things don't go calmly for Nick or Warrick when the killer decided to not play nice.

**Disclaimer: **This is all written in fun and trial for something new. Everything CSI is not mine and never will be. It belongs to the creative talent of the actors, the writers, the directors, and producers. I am not making any money off of this. Only meant to offer something new on something already so great. No reason to sue.

**Author's Note: ** Thanks again for everyone who is reading and I am glad you loved the last chapter. It was my favorite to write! And there was a question in the title in one of the reviews that I would like to answer. It is supposed to be without the "E" because Ken is stealing their breath away from them and he is asking for their breath. Proper English would have me put an "A" in front of it I guess, but I didn't want Ken to be proper. I got the title from him and that is it I suppose. Sorry if it is turning people away, but that is the title. Thanks for mentioning it though. I appreciate any feedback or questions about anything. But anyways, enough of me. Go see what happens to our Nicky! Does Brass and Grissom make it? Go, go, go! Have fun!

_**Breath for me**_

Written by: duffshel

**#15**

There were two cop cars in the parking lot when Brass pulled into it. He had turned off his sirens and lights two blocks back. All the rooms were dark except for two, one on each opposite side. Brass pulled up next to the other cops. Grissom wasted no time in jumping out of the vehicle.

"Do we have any idea where they are?"

A young man, no older than 30, walked over to were Brass and Grissom were standing. He looked nervous. This was something new to most of the department.

"I went in and talked with the manager in the office," the officer pointed to a tall man standing in a white shirt by the other cars, "He only has to people staying, one elderly man named Don Meedle and an out of stater, Tom Steeler."

Grissom tensed at the name, "Which room!"

The young cop jumped at the hissed demand from the head CSI. He didn't know if he should respond to it, but a look from his superior officer, the cop began to talk.

"He is staying in the far room over there," he pointed to the far right one, "I was told he was alone, but that the manager thought he saw someone join him."

"What is your name, son?" Brass asked as he looked towards the room.

"Andrew Kehls, sir. Do you need me to take up a parameter?"

"Yes, that would be good. I want this place covered in officers within the next minute. No one leaves this area. I want everyone held in. Get Mr. Meedle out of his room and keep him in a car. And sirens off till I say different!"

Andrew nodded and ran to talk with his partner and the other two cops from the other car. Brass watched the young man walk away and couldn't help, but feel a pang of fear for the other two young men they were trying to save. He turned to talk to Grissom, to establish a plan, only to find empty space. With a groan, he took off after the other man.

"Gil! What are you doing?"

"What am I doing? I am going to get my guys!"

"But you don't know what is going on in there or what kind of weapons he has. You cannot walk in there blind. At least let me go first. Pull your gun."

Grissom wasted no time and was right behind Brass as they walked towards the lighted room. Their footsteps got quicker once they began to hear the muffled sounds of distress and struggle from within the room. Brass waved the CSI towards the other side of the door as himself and put his hand on the door knob slowly.

"Be ready," Jim whispered as he turned the knob.

It surprised both men that the door was unlocked. Brass didn't waste any time in wondering about this moment of luck. He pushed open the door and burst into the room, gun leading.

"Vegas P.D. Freeze and put your…" Jim's voice trailed off.

Gil ran across the threshold right behind Brass. His eyes took in the scene before him. It was something he would have never been able to prepare himself for.

"Nick!"

Ken released his grip on the belt when the two other men ran into the room. Nick fell back against the bed with a dull thud. There was no movement from any of his limbs. No noise was heard from him. Warrick pulled on his cuffs even more. Hope flared through his body.

A look of complete and utter disbelief covered Ken's face. He had just finished killing the man underneath him, but was still hard. There new people should not be in his room at that moment. He had completely missed what the one said. Hell, he couldn't even see them clearly in his lust driven frustration.

"He has a gun!" Warrick yelled to warn the other two.

Brass immediately lifted his gun and pointed it at Ken's head. He would shoot with no questions if the killer did anything stupid. "Hands in the air, move away from the bed."

Many thoughts were running through Ken's head as he finally heard and saw the officer yelling instructions at him. He was still completely shocked on how he had been found. There was no trail to follow. Ken was not supposed to get caught. It was odd to be on the other side of the threats and guns.

He stood slowly from the still body on the bed. There would be no time at all to celebrate his male first take down. Both of the new comers had their guns pointed right at him. In that instance, Ken regretted leaving his gun on the dresser, about five feet from the bed.

"Who are you?"

Grissom tore his eyes off of Nick to stare at the killer, "I want my guys back!"

Ken's eyes lit up, "So, you're the great Gil Grissom. It would be an honor, but I still managed to grab two of your men and kill one right under your nose. You are not as great as I was hoping for."

The sandy blonde haired man stood at the edge of the bed with his hands raised slightly in the air. He couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face. Grissom looked like he wanted to kill him with his bare hands. This was all greatly amusing. Ken only wished he had a chance to try his belt on the thicker neck of Warrick.

"You are too late. I don't know what you are planning to do. Nick is already dead. You lost."

This comment caused Gil to look back at the Texan on the bed. The man hadn't moved and Gil couldn't see his chest moving at all. It sent cold chills throughout Grissom's entire body. He could not lose the younger man.

Brass also couldn't stop himself from looking at the bed. Nick's pallor was light and slightly blue. It didn't look good. The younger man was as good as dead from what he could tell.

Ken took advantage of both men being distracted by their colleague. He could see his gun and it was within jumping range. With a quick step to the right, Ken had his hand wrapped around the handle of the gun. He pulled the safety off as he lifted it to aim.

"Look out!"

The deep voice of Warrick roared into the room. Ken barely had time to process what was said when his body was thrown backwards in a cascade of pain. Two guns were smoking from across the room. Brass lowered his weapon once he saw both bullets hit Ken square in the chest. Grissom kept his up and ready.

Ken fell backwards hard. The air rushed out of his lungs as he stared up at the ceiling. He felt, more than heard the footsteps of the cop as he walked to stand over the dying serial killer. Ken never did like the man's face.

"Thomas Steeler, you are under arrest for the murders of all those girls and the attempted murder of Nicholas Stokes. You have no rights and I would like you to remember my gun still has more bullets."

Ken's eyes went wide, "Thomas? You know my name? But how can…" His breathing slowed and his eyes rolled back into his head.

Brass paid no more attention to the unconscious man. He turned to watch Gil grasp at Nick's shoulders and pull him upright. The belt was still tight around the poor boy's neck. When he went to help, Warrick stopped him.

"Jim, please! You have to get me out of these fuckin' things! I need to get loose!"

With a nod of his head, Brass walked over to the frantic CSI. Warrick didn't seem to want to hold still, but Brass still managed to get his key into the lock. The cuffs opened with a snap. Jim was surprised he was able to stay on his feet with the other man pushing past him with a heavy limp.

Warrick jumped onto the bed right next to Grissom. His right hand flew to touch his partner on the forehead. The other man's body was still warm, but the skin was losing all it's color. His breath caught in his throat as he looked into Grissom's face.

"Is he going to be okay?"

Grissom removed his fingers from where they rested against Nick's throat, "He isn't breathing."

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Catherine was about to pull into the parking lot of the Sleepy Inn when she was cut off by the speeding ambulance. As she watched it race towards the open door filled to the rim with cops, any choice words were caught in her throat.

Greg sat up in the backseat and pulled himself forward, "That doesn't look good."

Both women chose to ignore the newer CSI's comment. An ambulance would be needed on the scene no matter if someone was injured or not. It was just procedure. Catherine slowed her car down for the police officer waving her down. She got her ID ready to show when another ambulance came storming up behind her. The tires squealed as it whipped around her to join its partner.

"That really can't be good."

Sara turned to face Greg, "Just…don't say anything for a minute. Okay!"

Greg stared into Sara's eyes. He could see the fear and tension they held. If he could see his own at that moment, he was sure his looked the same. This was the biggest thing to happen to him since he started working in the field as help. Both of the guy's he looked up to were in this hotel room with paramedics struggling to get into to.

The SUV was allowed to pass and Catherine wasted no time in pulling up to the room. She hadn't gotten any calls from Brass or Grissom, but from what they heard over the police radio, there were shots fired within the room. No one knew at that time who was injured, but that ambulances were needed as soon as possible.

All three jumped out of the car, no one bothered to grab anything. They simply wanted to get into the room and see what was going on. Sara took the lead and literally pushed cops out of her way. Greg stayed close to Catherine. It was crowded when they got into the room.

Catherine spotted Brass standing off the side, by the bathroom doorway, "Jim?"

Her eyes scanned what she could see around other people. The corner of the bed was visible and a booted foot. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Brass has moved closer to her.

"Its Nicky."

Grissom had heard Catherine walk into the room, but he was not leaving the side of the bed. The cheap carpeting shifted under his knees as he moved. Warrick was breathing heavily next to him. The tall CSI's hands were hanging on hard to Nick's right one, not caring about the dried blood from Nick's fingernails. Grissom was rubbing his thumb on the skin of the pale forearm that was visible.

Warrick was looking no where, but his brother's pale and blue face, "Come on man. You can do it. Come on man…don't leave me. You are stronger than this. Don't leave me!"

The paramedic pushed down in a count of ten. His voice sounded calmer then Grissom thought it should. A female paramedic sealed her mouth over Nick's and breathed deep into the still man's lungs. Grissom would have to remember to tell Nick about the pretty little red head that performed the oral CPR. He glanced down at his watch. It had been four minutes since Brass and he had broken into the room. There was no guess at that moment how long Nick hadn't been breathing before them.

"The pulse is barely readable, but we found it finally. Get him breathing! We're losing him. We need to move him."

Warrick jumped at the senior paramedic's voice. He was not going to let go of Nick's hand for anything in the world. His man's skin was getting cooler under his hand though he hoped it was just that his hand was just getting hotter with this stress.

A gurney was wheeled into the room. Brass motioned for the officers to clear the room, but left Catherine and the others alone. He knew they would not leave until Nick did. Two of the cops bent down and pulled Ken up. The killer was a deep weight in their arms, but Brass wasn't sure if he really was dead or not. He just wanted the man out of the room now that an ambulance was there.

"I want three cars on him and do not leave him alone at the hospital ever. I don't care if he is in coma, do not leave him uncovered. I will be there as soon as I can."

Andrew nodded his head as he walked out behind the down man, "He will not leave my sight, boss."

Brass moved over towards the bed and laid a hand on Grissom's shoulder. The head CSI was shaking slightly and murmuring something under his breath. He needed to get both men away from the bed so the paramedics could do there jobs and get Nick out of there.

"Gil, I need you to stand up and move back."

Grissom took a deep breath and complied with the orders he was given. His knees were like jelly. There was still no sign of Nick being able to breath on his own. The female, her tags said Karen, was still pushing her air deep into Nick. His attention was turned to Warrick as Brass tried to remove him from the side of the bed.

"Come on 'Rick. I need you to stand. They need to get to him. He is going to get help, but you need to move."

"No, no! I am not letting him go. I promised I would see him out of this! No!"

Taking a deep breath, Grissom walked up to Warrick's left side and helped Brass pull his hand away from Nick's. They both had to bodily pull the black man away and supported his weight. He was strong and both men had to struggle to hold him. Greg jumped in and grabbed Warrick from behind around the waist.

Warrick went limp within their grasps as he watched Karen and her guys lift Nick onto the gurney. He could feel the salty tears that were streaming down his face, but didn't care enough to do anything about it. All he wanted right then was to see Nick take a breath on his own.

"I have to go with him! I need to be there."

"You are going to go. I am going to go with you. You are injured and are going to need medical attention as well, Warrick. Come on," Grissom soothed as he guided Warrick from the room behind the gurney, supporting much of his weight from his bad leg.

The wheels creaked as they hit the cement outside the room on the sidewalk. It was what shook Catherine out of her daze. She watched Gil lead Warrick from the room and looked around at the remaining team members. Sara was crying softly and Greg looked to be fighting his own tears. She was going to have to be strong for them. It was hard.

Brass interrupted her thoughts, "You three should go as well. I will have this room blocked off and I will call Eicklie so he can get someone here to start processing. I will meet you guys at the hospital when it is cleared."

Catherine nodded and grabbed Sara by her hand. Greg followed the two women like a lost puppy. He didn't know what to do with Nick and Warrick so messed up. They were always strong, never down.

"Come on guys. We are going to the hospital."

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Karen hooked up the IV and started the flow of fluids into the still man's body. She didn't know who he was, but from the actions of the other two men in the vehicle, he was important. His heart rate was almost nonexistent, but her boss, Kyle, was still working hard on getting him to breath. As long as they had the beat, they could bring him back. From what she could tell, he hadn't been breathing for under ten minutes. She had saved people from longer times than that.

The difibulator paddles were set and ready for use. Kyle didn't want to have to shock this guy if he didn't have to. His compressions were working so far to help the man's heart continue pumping. Karen took her spot back at his head and pumped the air mask. They needed to get through whatever was holding this man back from waking.

Warrick clutched at the blanket they had draped over Nick when they got into the ambulance. His knuckles were as pale as his face. There was a pain in his chest that he couldn't describe and it wasn't from the cuts Ken had been kind enough to give to him. He refused treatment on his leg until Nick was going to be fine again.

"Gil, he's going to make it. This is going to be over. Nicky's going to be okay."

Grissom lay his arm over the trembling man's shoulder, "Yeah, he will. He is going to prove to us how strong he is, again."

Kyle sat up quickly and gestured to Karen to stop her work. His face was lit up with a smile. The still man arched up and gasped for air.

"He's breathing!"

TBC….happy now?…J


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary: **A serial killer comes to town on the boy's night to work. Things don't go calmly for Nick or Warrick when the killer decided to not play nice.

**Disclaimer: **This is all written in fun and trial for something new. Everything CSI is not mine and never will be. It belongs to the creative talent of the actors, the writers, the directors, and producers. I am not making any money off of this. Only meant to offer something new on something already so great. No reason to sue.

**Author's Note: **Hey all. I hope you all had a most excellent weekend and watched plenty of football. I know I didn't! Thanks for the reviews and I am glad many of you are happy once again. I am getting sad as this story is drawing to an end. This is the second to the last chapter! But I am working on a new piece though I am finding it to be a struggle. So, don't let me hold you back. Enjoy and let me know what you think. Last chapter should be up by Wed, Thurs at the latest. Bye!

_**Breath for me**_

Written by: duffshel

**#16**

Grissom sat in the plastic chair in the hospital chair. He wasn't allowed to go into the ER surgery room with either of his guys. The waiting was driving him insane. Nick had been breathing on his own in the ambulance, but there had been signs of a struggle to get much air in. It was going to take a lot of work to get him stable. Warrick didn't want to leave Nick's side, but two doctors had been able to get him away and into his own room. The cuts on his chest had been bleeding again and the shattered bones in his leg were taking their toll again.

The silence was heavy in the room. An elderly woman sat across the room with a box of tissues as her companion. She was the only other person in the room. He was about to get up for a coffee run when the doors burst open. Greg tripped over the threshold.

"Damnit!"

"Greg, watch it."

Catherine walked away from her younger colleagues over to Grissom's side. Her face was tight with concern. She was the mother of the unit and it showed at that moment. There were tear tracks on her face and her jaw was tight to keep it from quivering.

"How are they? Is Nick…?"

"No! They got him breathing on the way here. The doctors are working on them both now and will let us know what is going on as soon as they are able."

Catherine nodded and dropped herself into the chair to his right. Sara had managed to get Greg to his feet and was pulling him over to the other two. Both of their eyes were red and puffy. They pulled two chairs over and placed them directly in front of their seniors.

"They are going to be fine?"

Grissom turned to face Greg, "They are in surgery right now. We will know soon enough. Is Brass coming?"

"Yeah, he is going to follow once he has the scene secured. He is getting a hold of Ecklie and will have day cover the scene. We don't have to leave until we know something."

All four leaned back in their chairs and focused on different parts of the room. No one could look at another with the fear of breaking down. It was hard to know one might not make it out of this alive. Nick was injured and it was severe. They all knew it. It was hard.

"I am going to get some coffee. Anyone want something?"

Greg jumped to his feet, "I will come. I need to move around."

Sara and Catherine shook their heads and looked towards the double doors. Gil nodded his head towards the younger man and they walked in the opposite direction together. Their steps were heavy as they left.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

The room was bright. Warrick groaned as he rolled onto his left side away from the lights over the bed. His body moved slower than he would have ever imagined possible. The IV in his hand pulled, but he really didn't care. His mind was sluggish in its process of what had happened.

From what he could tell, this was a hospital room. Warrick's brow furrowed at that thought. He couldn't figure out why he would be in the hospital. There was something wrapped around his leg and it was heavy. The sheet was easy to move. A thick, white cast was wrapped around his right leg.

"What the fuck? What is going on?"

His lips fought to form the words and his voice was slurred. This had to be some sort of joke. There was no reason that he should be in the hospital with a cast on. Nick must have cheated at basketball again.

"Wait! Nicky!"

The thoughts flooded Warrick's head too rapid for the man to sort them. He cried out at the assault. All he knew was that Nick was hurt and might be dead. They had been captured by a crazy man and now Nicky was suffering for it. He had to get out of that damn bed and find his brother.

Warrick found the IV with a shaky hand and pulled it out. The pain was nothing to him in his moment of panic. He pushed himself upright with both hands and carefully lifted his leg down to the floor. There was nothing he could see on that side of the room to use to help him walk, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. He would use the wall if he had to.

"Okay. On your feet Brown."

He moaned as the cuts in his chest shifted with the movement. Those had been forgotten and were much more painful that Warrick thought they would be. The room spun around his eyes as he stood straight. His body leaned forward as he attempted his first step. Warrick threw his hands out to catch himself on the wall.

Warrick was forced to take a couple of deep breaths first before he tried to get back upright. The cast was heavier than he had even thought possible. He couldn't bend his knee at all since it went up to mid-thigh. As careful as he could, Warrick turned himself so he was perpendicular with the wall and limped along it. There was another light from across the room.

It was slow process, but the door was now only about two feet away. His breathing was labored and his body was on fire. Warrick reached forward to grab the knob when something ahead of him caught his attention. His head lifted too quickly causing the room to go crazy. It took another moment to get back to normal, well as normal as he could at that moment.

There was a machine beeping and Warrick was pulled towards it like a horse to water. His eyes found the machine with little difficulty since it was just an easy turn to the left. It was an EKG and it was currently taking readings. Warrick slowly moved his eyes down all the wires to come across a bed. A sob escaped his lungs.

Nick was as still as death on the white cotton. Warrick felt as if he had been slapped as he looked upon his partner. A new surge of strength coursed through the tall CSI and he propelled himself to the waiting chair by the bed. His body was thankful for the support when he finally sank down into it.

"Nicky? Oh god man, please…"

Warrick reached out and touched the hand with its bandaged fingers resting outside the top sheet along side the still body. There was a breathing tube down the pale man's throat. Brown eyelashes rested on the Texan cheek bones. A harsh red marked his cheek. His hand was chilled to the touch. Warrick lifted the heavy limb to his lips and pressed a brotherly kiss to the knuckles, being careful not to harm the tender flesh that had been cut up so badly earlier.

"Come on man. Open your eyes for me! You have to wake up. I need you to wake up."

Nothing, but beeps and air shifting answered his pleas. Warrick held Nick's hand tight to his face and watched in fascination as the tears rolled down the man's arm. His body was hurting, but he was not leaving Nick now that he had found him again.

He didn't hear the door open behind him. The footsteps across the room were nothing under the beeping of his brother's heart. It was the hand on his upper back that brought him back to the present.

"You should be in bed Warrick."

Grissom's voice was soft, but clear. Warrick didn't turn around now that he knew who it was. He felt the comfort the other man was trying to give, but he didn't want it for himself. He was awake and able to move.

"Is he going to be okay?"

"Yeah, they have him stable. I felt it best that you two were in the same room together. I had a feeling you would need to be near each other. It was a good guess I see."

"Thank you. I would have found him no matter where he was in this place."

"But he is going to be fine. It is going to take some time, but he will be just like new. His throat is constricted and he is having trouble breathing on his own due to it. His hip will need to have a few more surgeries to redo the damage and the doctor didn't rule out replacement yet. And the cut was cleaned and bandaged. The wound on his arm was minor and was closed off with some stitches. And as you can see, the cut on his face was cleaned and closed as well. No damage will come from the trauma of not breathing. The doctor's said it wasn't enough time to cause enough damage and his heart never really stopped beating."

Warrick looked at it and scowled, "What about that freak? Is he dead?"

Grissom knew it was coming eventually, "Yeah. He died on the table. I had him sent to Robbins back at the lab. His body is evidence."

The pain in Warrick's chest didn't dissipate at all with the news. He had hoped hearing that the killer was dead would help, but it really didn't. It didn't hurt any less.

"I should be happy at the news, but I'm not."

"He died and left you without a closure in seeing his punished. It was an easy way out. I am sorry. I was the one who shot him and took that away from you"

"I don't blame you for anything with that, man. The only thing to help with my pain now is for this bum in front of me to open his eyes and talk to me."

Grissom grabbed the other chair in the room and moved it closer to the bed. He sat next to Warrick and rested his hands in his lap. It was a situation he never felt good in since he really didn't know what to say to ease the pain the man next to him was feeling. All he could do now was stand by him and offer him his complete support.

"Is the rest of the team here?" Warrick broke the silence.

"Yeah, they are waiting outside. The doctor didn't want to overwhelm anyone so we are only allowed to come in one at a time. I wasn't expecting anyone to be awake. Would you like to see someone else?"

" No, it is fine. You were there on the scene. I remember your voice through the fog. You saved us."

"You guys saved yourself. You two made it and are going to survive. I just helped out in the end. It was the least I could do after all."

Warrick couldn't help, but to smile. His boss was not considered a friendly person if you didn't know him, but if you were part of his team, his family, he gave you his full protection. It was nice to have and it took some of the pressure from Warrick's shoulders. He turned his smile back towards his partner.

"He wouldn't leave without me."

Grissom looked up at the comment, "What?"

"He got lose, but he didn't take off running. That was when he got shot in the hip. He got the keys from Ken and threw them to me. Nick only turned to leave when I was there with him."

Gil simply nodded his head. He knew Warrick needed to get it out and he would be there to listen. There was no hurry and he would let the young man talk his heart out if he wanted to. The beeping was soothing and Gil could feel his head get heavy now that his guys were in front of him. It was the gasp from Warrick that woke him back up.

"What? What is it? Do you need the doctor?"

But the other man wasn't listening. His full attention was on Nick in front of him, "Nick? Come on man. Open your pretty eyes for me."

Warrick's words were confusing to Grissom as he sat up. The man was continuing to talk to Nick and convince him to wake up. He didn't see why until he took a look at the pale hand within Warrick's grasp. Nick's fingers were twitching. He stood and leaned over the bed. He joined in the calls.

"That's it Nicky. You can do it."

Nick's eyes were twitching in their struggle to open. The words flowed into his ears as if they were traveling though honey. He couldn't make out the words, but the tones were encouraging. Nick wanted to see who it was talking to him. His heavy eyes fought back, but he finally was able to get them open. Warrick's smile was the first thing he saw.

"Mmm, hmmm."

Nick winced at the pain of trying to talk. He didn't understand. Like Warrick, he woke under the heavy sedation of drugs and his memory was foggy. His body hurt and ached in placed he didn't even know he had. But what made him panic was the inability to talk.

"Hey, calm down man. I got ya. You can't talk right now. Just relax."

The Texan turned wide eyes towards both men at his side. Both had smiles and looked extremely relieved so he allowed his body to relax slightly. There would be no way they would look like that if something was wrong. He just couldn't figure out what had happened.

Grissom laid his hand on Nick's stomach, "Just relax Nick. I am going to go get the doctor."

The lead CSI left the room and left the other two alone. Warrick's eyes were filled with tears and his lips quivered with suppressed emotions. He could feel Nick's grasp his in confusion. From his experience with just waking up, he had a feeling Nick didn't really remember anything either. He would fill his friend in on it later if he didn't remember eventually.

"It's good to see you awake man. I missed ya."

Nick wanted to smile back, but the tube in his mouth didn't allow him to achieve much of one. He tried to shift to get more comfortable, but pain erupted throughout his entire being. His throat burned as he attempted to cry out to show his discomfort.

The hand in his gripped with a death grip. Warrick made cooing noises and brushed his free hand against Nick's cheek. He really didn't know what else to do to ease the pain he knew the other must be in.

"I got you man. I got you. Don't fight it."

The doctor ran in the room first and left the door open. The CSI's all took a spot in the doorway and watched as the doctor immediately began checking over Nick. Catherine was shocked to see Warrick out of bed. She thought both men were still asleep.

Warrick watched as the doctor pulled a small bottle and syringe from the pocket in his white coat. He wasted not time in injected it into the IV line connected to them man.

"It's a sedative. He shouldn't be awake right now."

Everyone held their breath as they watched Nick fight off the induced sleep. His panicked eyes shut heavily and his face held its pained expression. Nick's hand fell out of Warrick's. The black man scrambled to grab it again. The doctor glared at Warrick once the other man was asleep.

"You should be back in bed. I need to take a look at your cuts. Come now."

Warrick allowed himself to be moved back to his bed by the doctor and Grissom. His body was heavy with exhaustion, but that pain in his chest, it was gone. Seeing Nick awake, even for that moment, was enough to ensure the CSI he wasn't dead. Warrick missed the doctor placing his IV back in. He fell asleep not too long after.

TBC…such a friendship…


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary: **A serial killer comes to town on the boy's night to work. Things don't go calmly for Nick or Warrick when the killer decided to not play nice.

**Disclaimer: **This is all written in fun and trial for something new. Everything CSI is not mine and never will be. It belongs to the creative talent of the actors, the writers, the directors, and producers. I am not making any money off of this. Only meant to offer something new on something already so great. No reason to sue.

_**Breath for me**_

Written by: duffshel

**#17**

It had been four days since both men awoke in their hospital beds. Warrick was currently sitting once again at Nick's side. The shorter CSI was having trouble staying awake for long periods of time due to the pain and the drugs. When ever Warrick was allowed to be up and moving, he was in his chair across the room by his bed.

The tube had been removed from Nick's throat and his slight wheeze was covered from the constant beeping from the EKG. Nick wasn't allowed to move from the bed or take any of the other machines off. The doctor was still worried about a relapse or other troubles. Nick really didn't mind though. His body hurt too damn much.

Nick's eyes opened easy the few times when he was allowed to sleep without drug assistance. The room was dim, but there was enough light to make out Warrick sleeping in the chair. Nick smirked and looked around the room to see if anyone else was present. It wasn't unusual to see two or three others hanging out with them at a time.

He remembered everything now. The pains all made sense, but didn't make him any less angry. Warrick had told him Ken was dead. He didn't care about justice for the man, he just wanted to beat the shit out of him.

A groan from Warrick announced the other man's waking. Nick didn't bothering looking over at him, "Morning buttercup."

"Oh shut up with that crap, man. I thought I beat that one out of you years ago."

"Nah, I would never forget that. We were married on that plane after all."

Warrick shook his head, "You remember the weirdest crap from former cases. But I guess that one is relevant since those killers got away without punishment. Ken got off through death."

"You know, some people would say that is the ultimate punishment."

"And you buy into that?"

"I don't really know anymore. I am just glad I don't have to worry about him coming out in the night sometime and doing something new."

"Yeah, I won't be able to be there all the time to save your ass."

Nick smiled. His love for the other man had grown through the ordeal and he was glad to have him around. Never would he have thought he would ever have such feelings for someone who wasn't related to him. But Warrick was now his chosen brother and was as close as any of his sisters or his single blood brother.

"I never have thanked you. You kept your promise. You were there at the end."

"You never have to thank me man. I will always be there at the end."

Both men fell into a comfortable silence. Warrick reached for the remote on the TV and searched out something they would both enjoy. There was college basketball game on. Neither liked the teams, but it was sports. The doctor found them twenty minutes later, sleeping with the game still on.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Catherine sat in the chair next to Nick's bed. She was eager to spend some time with them, but Warrick had been taken out for some lab work while Nick was sedated again. The Texan's hip had been bothering him more after the second surgery to the area. The only thing that would keep him from moving around and causing more damage was to drug him. Catherine was just glad it wasn't going to be a permanent thing.

Nick's eyes were open, but they were distance and glazed. His breathing was calm and deep. The man was awake, but not completely aware of what was going on around him. There was someone next to him, holding his hand, but he didn't know who it was. The drugs in his system stole any distinct thought from him. All he knew, his hip was numb and that was a good thing.

The television was on, but neither was paying it any mind. The hospital room door opened and Grissom wheeled Warrick in. The CSI looked exhausted and a new band-aid was taped to the inside of his elbow. Warrick waved to Grissom to place him next to Catherine next to the bed. He needed to check on Nick before he went back to his bed.

"How's he doing?"

Catherine brushed her blonde hair out of her face, "Just resting. The doctor just gave him another dose so he is kinda out of it. But he is calm."

"That's good. I was worried he was going to fall out of bed last night from the pain he was experiencing. The doctor came and took him out for a few hours."

Grissom stood watching his three companions and couldn't help, but feel a little like an outsider. He just didn't know what to do or say in these kinds of situations. It wasn't that he wasn't worried about Nick or Warrick, he just didn't have the right tools to say the right things in bad times. He moved closer to the bed.

"I know you are both tired and hurting, but we are going to need to get your side of things. Do you want to try now Warrick?"

Warrick took a deep breath. He knew this was coming and knew from experience that it was going to have to be done whether he or Nick were ready for it, "I guess, we can start. I just don't know how much I can do right now."

"That's fine. Let me get the recorder ready."

Grissom walked back towards the door and opened the case that Warrick hadn't noticed before. Catherine must have brought it in when Grissom was blocking the doorway. The digital recorder was tiny, but it held a great deal of responsibility.

"We can stop whenever you need to. Just take your time and tell what you remember."

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Warrick looked at Nick's pale face and began to retell the tale. He started with the park and the horror of watching Nick getting shot. It had been difficult to watch at the time, but he was feeling the pain again just from talking about it. The story spilled from his lips. Catherine had gripped his left hand when it started to shake.

But Warrick crumbled when he got to the part once Nick had gotten off the bed. It wasn't because of the pain the knife had caused on his chest. It was the fact that Nick had broken his promise.

"He was supposed to get out. Save himself, but he stayed. He almost died because he helped me!" the tears ran steadily down Warrick's cheeks.

Catherine could feel herself begin to cry, "He couldn't leave you. You would have done the same thing."

"But he shouldn't have! If he had left, he wouldn't be in that damn bed. He would be sitting at home drinking a beer."

Silence filled the room except for the sobs that Warrick was trying to suppress. He hadn't dealt with the emotions of everything yet. It had been mostly concern about Nick and the recover the both were going through. Nobody was paying much attention to the sheets rustling.

""Rick?"

All three CSI's jumped at the rasp from the bed and turned to look at Nick. The Texan's tired eyes rested solely on Warrick. His limps were trembling slightly from his battle against the drugs that were making his mind numb.

"Nick, are you okay? Do you need the doctor?"

"No…no more drugs…have to talk…to you," it was hard to talk, but Nick pushed it out, "Not your fault…my choice."

Warrick pulled himself painfully forward in the wheel chair he was still sitting in and took Nick's hand from Catherine, "Shh, you should be sleeping, bro."

"Don't interrupt me!" The command was nothing more than a whisper, but it stopped any more words from coming from Warrick.

"Not your fault. I wasn't…going to leave you. You are…friend and not to be left….for dead."

Catherine felt like an intruder from her proximity with the two men, but was afraid to move and cause any disturbance. This would be good for both of them, even though she could also tell it was taking its toll on Nick.

"You wouldn't have left me for dead, man. He was more interesting in you anyways. He wanted to kill you first no matter what. I would have been fine until you went and got some help."

"No, shut up and listen!" Nick shook his head to clear out more cobwebs, "I was not going to leave you. Leave no man behind:

Grissom smiled at the attempt Nick made to make himself clear. There would be a lot of talking and arguing between these two men, but it should be done in private.

"Warrick, I think we are done for today. You and Nick talk and get things straight and we can try again tomorrow. Catherine, we need to get back to the lab."

The blond woman brushed her hands on her cheeks to get rid of the stray tears, "Alright. You guys get better, I will bring Lindsey to see you tomorrow, she has been asking about you guys. Get some rest."

She planted a kiss on Nick's cheek and then one to Warrick's forehead. Grissom simply grasped the other two men's clamped hands in his own and gave them a quick squeeze. They both left quietly.

"Look, Nick," Warrick turned back to Nick, "I think we are just going to do nothing, but fight about this topic. I know I am right, but you are too stupid to admit to it."

Nick blinked heavily, but smiled anyways, "Whatever man. Now, if you are all done…whining about my ability to save your ass…I need to get some sleep. I don't know…what they are giving me, but…man, they are killers."

The Texan drifted into sleep just as he finished talking. Warrick almost didn't catch the last of it, but got most of the mumbled words to put it together. He should have known Nick would argue with him on this. No matter what the other man said, Warrick would always regret things. But right now, he had to think of a way to get from that damn chair back into his bed. He needed a nap.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

His house was warm. Nick pulled at his t-shirt collar with still tender fingers to try to move the air closest to his skin. He had been let out of the hospital two days ago, but he wasn't alone. Warrick practically moved into his spare bedroom in order to keep an eye on him. Not that Nick really minded though.

The Animal Planet was once again his only companion at the moment though. He had convinced Warrick, after a lot of arguing, that he needed to get some solid sleep. Nick knew he was keeping his partner up through the night with the cries from his nightmares. The screams were loud even to Nick's ears when he jumped awake.

The night didn't hide him from Courtney dying with the belt tight around her neck or the knife slicing through Warrick's chest. During the worst terrors, he could still feel that damn belt wrapped around his flesh, pulling taunt. He knew he almost died, but he didn't remember any white lights or peaceful life flashes. All there had been was darkness and complete fear. It would never leave him.

Nick sighed and rubbed his forehead. He wanted to move, but the effort to get up to do it was more than he wanted to deal with. Frustration was also another emotion he was dealing with too much lately. There was little he could do for himself. His hip was fucked up and he was forced to hobble around on crutches or in a wheel chair for longer trips. It was embarrassing.

The cut on his face itched, but he avoided touching it. Catherine had yelled at him enough about it that it stuck. The stitches were going to come out in three more days. He could wait until then. It was still quicker than the ones still holding the muscle and flesh together in his arm. In a few words, Nick was a mess.

Deciding that he really needed to take a piss, Nick reached for his crutches and slowly moved himself forward on the couch. Pains shot through him, but he gritted his teeth and pushed himself upwards. He had to stop once he was on his feet and shut his eyes. The room didn't like to hold still once he was upright.

The nausea died down and Nick adjusted the crutches under his arms. Once he was ready, he wobbled down the hallway towards the bathroom door. He wanted to scream out in pain, but held it back to grunts. It seemed like a mile of hell.

He had never been more thankful for having the light switch right by the doorway than he was at that moment. But the damn toilet was still about five more feet in. Nick would forever smile when he saw a toilet now. He never thought he would see the day he could say he was handcuffed to one. But right now, all he wanted to do was piss like he never had before. The crutches made it awkward, but Nick finally managed to get his sweat pants down far enough. He readied himself for the new pain that the pressure would put on the breaks of his hip.

Once he was finished, Nick used his good hand, his shaky hand, to pull at his pants. They were stubborn and got caught up on his bandages. A sob caught in his throat. He just wanted to be well again. It seemed like too much to ask for.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Warrick awoke feeling refreshed for once. It was a feeling he had been missing as of late. He would never tell Nick, but he had been sleeping in shifts in order to be awake in case the other man would need him. He was having dreams of what had happened, but no where near the magnitude that Nick was. For that he was thankful.

The bed felt great under his worn body, but he needed to get up. A look at the clock showed he had been asleep for over five hours. Nick would need something from him by now. With a groan, Warrick pushed himself up and off the bed. He grabbed his t-shirt and threw it on over his bandaged chest. The cuts still pulled, but it was his leg that was still bothering him.

White plaster was heavy against his skin, but Warrick was able to move around with only one crutch. He limped his way to the doorway and looked down the hallway. The television was on, but there was no one watching it. Warrick walked towards it and looked into the kitchen. The main rooms were empty. His eyebrow formed a frown.

As he turned around to go towards the master bedroom, a sound from the bathroom stopped him. He walked over to the door and knocked on the wood softly. There was no response from inside, but he could hear sounds of distress. Without blinking, Warrick opened the door and stepped in.

Nick had lowered himself onto the edge of his tub and had his head in his hands. He was sobbing. Warrick made his way to his side and sat down. Nick collapsed against his chest.

"Oh Nicky. Come on, man. It's okay."

He placed a kiss on the back of Nick's head and ran his hand over the scalp. This was something he hated doing. He never wanted to see Nick like this ever again. The Texan wasn't supposed to cry like he was.

Nick buried his hands in the cloth of the t-shirt and let himself cry. He knew it wouldn't stop until he was done so he just let it happen. The arms around him were comforting and he made no move to push them away. This was one of the few times he had let Warrick hold him through his pain.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be doing this anymore, but I don't know how to make it stop," he stuttered through his tears and gasps for breath.

"No man, it is fine. You do what you need to. There is nothing wrong with crying."

Both men stayed like that for almost twenty minutes. Finally Nick was able to pull himself together and push himself away from Warrick. The tear tracks ran down his neck and his eyes burned, but he did feel a little better. Warrick was smiling at him with nothing, but comfort and love.

"What brought that on, little bro?"

Nick's cheeks turned a little more red, "I had to take a piss."

"So you are telling me, we just sat in this bathroom forever because you had to take a piss? What the hell kind of answer is that?"

"Its just so damn annoying. I can't even relieve myself without struggling to move and to avoid the pain. This really sucks man."

"I know, but soon you are going to be better and back to bugging the living hell out of me. Then I will wish nothing more than you to be crying over taking a damn piss."

Nick started laughing. It hurt, but he really didn't care at that moment. One of Warrick's arms was still wrapped around him and he felt safe. His brother was there with him and wasn't going to let him go, just like he forever promised. He would do his damn best to return the favor.

"Hey man, can we get out of the bathroom? I would hate for someone to let themselves in and see us like this together in here."

Warrick laughed even harder and got to his feet. His chest felt on fire, but he didn't care at that moment. He limped out of the room first and waited for Nick to follow. They made quite the pair with the three crutches on their way back to the couch. Both men fell upon the fabric in a heap, but their laughter covered their pain. They would be alright. They would make it. They would make sure of it.

"Once we can move normal and get the hell out of here, you are buying the first drink."

"I don't think so Warrick. Remember what I told you?"

"Which time?"

"I told you when they started sticking me with every needle in that hospital, you would owe me. I think that converts into all the booze I can handle."

"Well, it's a good thing you can't handle much!"

"I will beat you for that one later."

Laughter filled the room.

**The End**

**Author's Final Notes: **I just want to say thank you to every one of you who either read or read/reviewed. It meant a lot to me because I was really worried about this story. I really didn't want to put it up, but am quite glad that I did. It sucks that I can't give responses to you guys, but thanks, thanks, thanks! It is depressing that this ride is over so soon! Maybe some day I will write something to add to is, who knows. But I am working on my new fiction at the moment, so it will have to wait. I really don't know what else to say. Let me know your overall thoughts on this and anything you suggest I work on. I am open to any ideas. And I promise the other title for my other story will be clearer. In fact, I am going to give you all a little teaser for it! See you all soon!

**New Fanfiction!**

**Title: Poisonous Fear**

**Summary: A case leads the team on a game of cat and mouse through fear and panic. Nick and Warrick risk it all to make it through to the end.**

**Coming soon to near you!**


End file.
